'She Has Always Been In Our Thoughts': Accused Child Killer Arraigned

SALEM, MA — The cousin of Melissa Ann Tremblay, the Salem, NH 11-year-old girl stabbed to death in a Lawrence rail yard nearly 34 years ago, said she was able to "face her killer" following the arraignment of Marvin McClendon, 75, on first-degree murder charges Thursday in Salem Superior Court.

Danielle Root issued a statement on behalf of Tremblay's family after the arraignment saying Tremblay "has always been in our thoughts" and that she was thankful to authorities for making an arrest in the 1988 killing.

McClendon, a former Massachusetts corrections officer from Chelmsford, is accused of killing Tremblay after she was left to play outside in a Lawrence neighborhood on Sept. 12, 1988 while her mother was at a nearby social club. He pled not guilty on Thursday.

He was arrested in Berman, Alabama in April after prosecutors said DNA evidence tied him to Tremblay's death.

"Many people have blamed my aunt for Missy's death," Root said in her statement. "While I don't believe she made the right decision that night, that is between her and God. Ultimately, the only person responsible for Missy's death is the man we saw in court today."

Judge Thomas Drechsler ordered McClendon held without bail on Thursday. He has a pre-trial conference scheduled for Aug. 23.

An Essex County Grand Jury indicted McClendon on June 15.

Root said the Essex District Attorney's Office scheduled the arraignment to coincide with her trip to visit family in New Hampshire so she could be in the courtroom on Thursday.

"On behalf of her family, I want to thank everyone who has worked on her case over the years," Root said. "They have never given up and because of that we were able to sit in the courtroom today and face her killer."

The Essex County DA's Office said McClendon is represented by Attorney Henry Fasoldt and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Tremblay's body was found between two freight trains in the Boston & Maine Rail Yard in Lawrence with her left leg severed under one of those trains.

Police reported there were signs of a struggle before her death.

The DA's Office said McClendon worked for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections on three separate occasions between 1970 and 2002 and that he was doing carpentry work in the area at the time of the girl's killing.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)