Lucio's supporters say many of the issues in her trial trace back to the head prosecutor in the case, Armando Villalobos. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. On April 27, 53-year-old Melissa Elizabeth Lucio is scheduled to be strapped to a gurney in the Texas execution chamber and given a lethal dose of drugs. She married at age 16. Melissa Lucio is an American woman who belongs to Hispanic descent and has been sentenced to death in Texas. We cannot allow the rule of law to be suspended and substituted by a court of public opinion.". "I am only here to do what can be done for my mother.". April 25, 2022 by John Atsu. At the time of Mariah's death in 2007, Ms. Lucio lived with Mariah's father, Robert Alvarez, and nine children; the family had just moved into a new apartment. In 2007, Melissa Lucio's life was thrown upside down when her then 2 year old daughter Mariah died. Lawyers hope new evidence can stop Texas woman Melissa Lucio's execution. Lucio was previously sentenced to death in 2008 and was pregnant with twins at the time of her incarceration, which she had to put up for adoption as she was unable to support the babies feeding in prison. The latest bid to spare Melissa Lucio's life comes 14 years after she was sentenced to death in a capital murder case involving the youngest of her dozen children at the time. At least one juror from the trial says the jury wasn't given the full picture and that if he had known more, he would have never voted for the death penalty. Please allow us to reconcile with Mariah's death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish, and grief. Before all this, "we were a large family and we were very united", her eldest son, John, told BBC. During the five-hour-long interrogation, officers berated and . Director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Sabrina Van Tassel argues for Melissa Lucio's retrial. If she is killed, she would be the first Hispanic woman to be executed in Texas in the modern era of the death penalty, and the first woman executed in Texas since 2014. Protestors outside the Cameron County Courthouse advocate to overturn Melissa Lucio's death sentence. Many were put up for adoption while others were split up and sent to live with relatives or placed in the custody of the state. T he highest criminal court in Texas on Monday halted the execution of Melissa Lucio a mother whose murder conviction in the death of her 2-year-old daughter has . As fast as my heart was pacing, thats how fast I was driving, John later told reporters at a press conference. According to the reports, she has undergone a continuous and repetitive highly abnormal level of vulnerability. Toon wondered why Lucios story wasnt getting as much attention as the cases of some of the men on Texass death row. I know she's innocent.' This child had more bruises than Ive ever seen in any case that I had before, she said. "If they go through with it, they'll be killing an innocent woman.". The conservative Republican from North Texas became an unlikely ally of the condemned mother from the Rio Grande Valley. Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz who was not the DA at the time of Lucio's trial told Texas lawmakers last week that he would move to delay Lucio's execution if the Board of Pardons and Paroles rejects calls for clemency and the courts don't intervene. The children are featured in Van Tassel's documentary, as is original interview footage from the time of Lucio's arrest. Leach and a handful of colleagues traveled to visit Lucio in prison. Melissa deserves to remain and die in prison. Melissa Lucio is the first woman of an American Hispanic descent who was sentenced to death in Texas. "Being the eldest was hard, not only because of the responsibility but because I would like to see our family together again.". But lawyers and others of Melissa's supporters say she was made to make statements under duress. The trial court will also be asked to consider the claim that Lucio is innocent of murder. She was sexually abused at the age of 6 by one of her family members (her mothers boyfriend). In 2014, Villalobos was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion. Among the suppressed evidence, her attorneys say, are indications police and prosecutors knew other family members were aware of Mariahs fall down the stairs and that no one had described the abuse Mariah allegedly suffered. Theyd also filed a petition with the Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing that new evidence undermined Lucios conviction. Even after none of her children accepted their mothers physical abuse from Lucio, the police and pathologists continued to claim that Mariahs death was not a result of the fall from the stairs. Around 3am, she told detectives, I guess I did it, reportedly in hopes that they would end the interrogation, according to the Innocence Project. 2023 Cable News Network. Im hoping its not the same evidence Mr. Villalobos had. What evidence would you have? Tivon Schardl, supervisory assistant federal public defender in the Capital Habeas Unit in Austin, and part of Lucio's current defense team, said the jurors were not given the full picture: "There's been just a concerted effort to keep this evidence from being considered.". Prosecutors at trial argued Lucio, now 53, was an abusive mother who caused the injuries that led to her daughter Mariahs death. But she, her family and attorneys say she is innocent and was wrongfully convicted of capital murder. More on The Lone Star Plate www.lonestarplate.showSabrina . hide caption. Melissa Elizabeth Lucio (born June 18, 1969) is the first woman of Hispanic descent to be sentenced to death in the U.S. state of Texas.She was convicted of capital murder after the death of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, who was found to have scattered bruising in various stages of healing, as well as injuries to her head and contusions of the kidneys, lungs and spinal cord. But although Lucio had a history of being investigated by Child Protective Services, she had no history of physically abusing her kids. The 53-year-old is in the news because she is facing execution. hide caption. Her lawyers argue that credible science demonstrates that Mariahs death was caused by an accident and that Lucio was sentenced to death for a crime that never happened. Or sleeping well. Neither woman had been eating very much. Attorneys for Lucio have long argued that Saenz has a conflict of interest due to the fact that Lucios defense attorney at trial, Peter Gilman, now works for him. View our online Press Pack. According to the reports, she has gone through a continuous and repetitive highly abnormal level of vulnerability. . Her attorneys are seeking either a lesser charge, to remove Lucio from death row or a . Just two days before Melissa Lucio was scheduled to be to be put to death, a Texas court on Monday halted her execution and sent her case back for review. According to the prosecutor, the injuries that were made to Mariah were the results of physical abuse while Lucios attorney says that the injuries were made to the daughter because she fell down the stairs two days before her death. But Lucio had no history of child abuse. Villalobos could not be reached for comment. "I'll make a decision once it comes to me," Abbott told KRGV, an ABC News affiliate in the Rio Grande Valley. By the time she gave birth to her twelfth child, Melissa had experienced homelessness, drug addiction, and severe mental illness," according to an amicus brief filed by former prosecutors, anti-violence organizations and others on Lucio's behalf. Lucios life wasnt as easy and smooth as other childrens. Now, her family, more than 80 state lawmakers from both parties, and even some of the jurors who convicted her say she should live. Alexandra is also another of Melissa Lucio's elder daughters. However, she has maintained her innocence ever since. SAN ANTONIO - The governor of Texas is under pressure to stop the planned execution of a mother convicted of killing her child. Greg Abbott to spare their mom's life. Mondays ruling followed months of work by Lucios attorneys, including those from the Innocence Project, and mounting calls for mercy. In this April 6, 2022 photo provided by Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, Rep. Leach stands next to death row inmate Melissa Lucio during a visit by a group of seven lawmakers to the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. But the trial judge ruled that testimony "irrelevant," according to court documents. She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old . Potkin said Lucio was . John has organised sitdowns seeking the release of his mother and said he will continue fighting. Yes, the ruling by the appeals court does nothing to modify Lucios sentence. Melissa Lucio was found guilty of a very serious crime called "capital murder". Melissa later told police that when she realised that Mariah was no longer inside the unit, she left to look for her and found her crying by the staircase, with a bit of blood on her lower teeth. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. Earlier, Lucio was sentenced to death back in 2008 and at the time when she was imprisoned, she was pregnant with twins, whom she had to give up for adoption as she could not have the nourishment of the babies in jail. Melissa Lucio whose age is 52 years old is seen being defended by one of her daughters named Alexandra in the documentary. According to court documents submitted by Lucio's attorneys, she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend starting at the age of 6 abuse that lasted for two years . April 28, 2022 5:23 PM EDT. Mariah's body was riddled with bruises and the medical examiner automatically declared Mariah's death by homicide via child abuse. Texas mother Melissa Lucio, who was convicted in the death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, is scheduled to be executed April 27. She received abuse throughout her childhood and teenage years. "There is significant evidence of her innocence that no court, no fact finder has ever considered," Potkin says. Among them is one of her sons, John Lucio. All Rights Reserved. She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and a Texas jury sentenced her to death. Since turning 18, he described meeting with his mother on death row as he backed her claims that Mariahs death was an accident. She tried to explain to no avail that Mariah had fallen down the stairs a few days earlier; the possibility that the childs death was not murder but the result of a tragic accident was never investigated. What does that mean?. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. She said she was constantly sexually abused by her first husband, who later left and separated with her five children. In 2019 the 5th U.S. The documentary focuses on the case of Melissa Lucio, a woman convicted for the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah. The state of Texas had planned to execute an anonymous woman, she said. 2:03 PM EDT, Tue April 26, 2022, Texas court grants stay of execution for death row inmate. Who is Melissa Lucio? Everybodyknows who she is., Liliana Segura[emailprotected]theintercept.com@lilianasegura, Jordan Smith[emailprotected]theintercept.com@chronic_jordan. Over the years, it has routinely allowed executions to go forward even in cases where there were serious questions about a defendants guilt. Lucio's attorneys say Villalobos wanted to make an example of Lucio to prove he was tough on crime. Well, it means youre going to wake up on Thursday morning, Leach replied. Melissa Lucio was born on July 18, 1968 in Lubbock, Texas. And she did, saying she spanked the child, but never admitting to the use of deadly force. It was potentially one of the last times he would see her alive. Melissa Lucio, a Mexican-American who is facing execution in Texas on April 27, 2022, was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death after her daughter, Mariah, sustained injuries from an accidental fall. One of Mariah's other siblings witnessed the fall and later, when interviewed by Child Protective Services after Mariah's death, stated that he saw his sibling fall down the stairs.". Who is Melissa Lucio? . "You start peeling back the layers and you see that it is a case about corrupt prosecutors, it's a case about unfairness," Ms Babcock said. SAN ANTONIO - The governor of Texas is under pressure to stop the planned execution of a mother convicted of killing her child. If the execution is not postponed or stopped, she will receive a lethal injection on April 27, despite the mounting doubts over her guilt. According to NPR, Lucio is an abuse survivor and was sexually assaulted multiple times starting at the age of six, and was then physically . Prosecutors said she confessed after this police interrogation, and on the testimony of one of the agents who said he was "convinced" she was guilty, and on the injuries that Mariah's body had shown at the time of her death. Lucio is over 77 kgs or 170 lbs .The native of texas uses drugs very often and has been tested for cocaine earlier in her criminal offence. But in 2021, the full court upheld her conviction for procedural reasons a technicality. And they say that Lucios interrogators a phalanx of investigators that included Texas Ranger Victor Escalon engaged in their own junk science. But jurors didn't hear testimony from any of Lucio's kids. The stairway outside the Lucios' apartment in Harlingen, Texas, where attorneys for Melissa Lucio say her daughter Mariah fell before she died. "At some point they didn't hear Mariah playing anymore, went to check on her, and she had managed to get out of the screen door and was at the bottom of the staircase," says Potkin, the Innocence Project attorney. She also has the support of an unprecedented bipartisan coalition of 87 Texas lawmakers. On April 25, 2022, the Texas court granted a stay of execution and directed the Cameron County 138th Circuit Court to review Lucios case with new evidence of her innocence regarding the death of her daughter Mariah. In 2020, a documentary about the case history of Melissa Lucio was directed by Sabrina Van Tassel titled The State of Texas vs. Melissa. Now she can prove her innocence. ", Another of Lucio's children, Bobby Alvarez, carries the words of his mom tattooed on his chest: "I'll always be with you, and here I'll always stay." For 14 years, Lucio had been on death row for the 2007 death of her then-two year old daughter, Mariah. 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