"We ask you not to tear those wounds open again. Mariah, on being examined, was found to be in a fetal condition with various stages of bruising and injuries on her head, and contusions of the kidneys, lungs, and spinal cord. She was set to be executed on April 27, 2022, butwas granted a stay of execution two days priorby the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Greg Abbott commute Lucios sentence, or at least grant a 120-day reprieve from execution. The daughter, who was a toddler at that time, had to go through a physical disability and was unstable while walking. On 27 April, Melissa Lucio was supposed to die. She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and a Texas jury sentenced her to death. Published At the time, the family lived in a small two-bedroom, second-floor flat. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. Aside from Texas legislators and the celebrity Kim Kardashian, Lucios arguments were also enough to convince at least five of her jurors to come forward publicly to call for her execution to be stopped and for a new trial based on evidence they never heard. Update: Melissa Lucio's execution date has been set for April 27, 2022. In 2007, Melissa Lucio's life was thrown upside down when her then 2 year old daughter Mariah died. Mariahs lifeless body arrived at a hospital in Harlingen, Texas, covered in bruises, which authorities immediately assumed were evidence of abuse. Melissa Lucio with her children. After the death of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, the court charged her with capital murder. It was potentially one of the last times he would see her alive. Did you encounter any technical issues? Research says Mariah was physically abused, and people like Ms. Lucio often agree to conditions they never condemned while under tremendous pressure from the majority of people. On 15th April Ms. Lucios attorney filed a habeas petition appealing for her client to seek a stay of her execution and argued that she deserves a new trial because she is innocent and is falsely taken or misunderstood. At the time, the family was moving homes, and she reportedly fell due to her physical disability, which left her feet turned to the side, making her unable to walk and prone to tripping. Greg Abbott to either grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. I know she's innocent.' Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed next week for a crime she says she didn't commit one that may not have even occurred. Luciano asked Bobby Alvarez, "What would it mean to you to have your mom back with you? Melissa Lucio, who maintained her innocence for nearly 14 years, was immediately taken under interrogation and was asserted nearly 100 times until she was manipulated by the police officers to take the responsibility for Mariahs injury. Opinion is divided on her guilt, though - many of her living children have backed up her claim of innocence, and five of the jurors who convicted her have since expressed misgivings over the verdict. "Their electric service was cut, they moved some 26 times in a five-year period. She married at age 16. Five of the trial's 12 jurors have called for her clemency. Lucio has always maintained her innocence. SAN ANTONIO - The governor of Texas is under pressure to stop the planned execution of a mother convicted of killing her child. And despite Mondays stay of execution, she remains on death row, Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, said in a news conference Monday. 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. John and his wife, Michelle, were filming an interview with Univision in their hotel lobby when John stepped away to take a phone call from Assistant Federal Public Defender Tivon Schardl. "Melissa didn't observe the fall herself. hide caption. Moments after learning about her daughter's death, Melissa was questioned by the police for over five hours, without food, beverage or sleep. At the time of the abuse she was only 6 years old and could not do anything, but the conditions remained the same for at least two years. Saenz's office did not respond to a request for comment on the case. "I hit her like this," she demonstrated by spanking a doll, sealing her fate. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. Despite receiving the death penalty, she was described by campaign organisations as a "loving and caring mother," who tried her best to provide financially for her family. Greg Abbott could grant her clemency. Child Protective Services was present in the family's life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, lawyer Vanessa Potkin said. The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. View our online Press Pack. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. Similarly, film personalities have produced the story of Melissa Lucio either in documentaries, short films, or movies, but no one could deny the fact that she would be getting a sentence to death. The legal team also addressed lingering questions about whether Saenz would even be eligible to retry Lucio. Campaigners took up Melissa's cause as one of a miscarriage of justice. "It's very common to be mistaken for abuse if you don't look for the signs.". 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. The lawyers asked the court to block the execution and send the case back to the lower court for further scrutiny and ultimately, a new trial. In front of a large white Free Melissa Lucio banner, Van Tassel looked up toward the courthouse where she had spent so much time working on the film that would bringLucios story to the rest of the world. That decision will ultimately turn on another motion filed by Lucios lawyers, seeking the recusal of Cameron County District Court Judge Gabriela Garcia, whose court administrator was also part of Lucios legal team. Melissa Lucio has given birth to 14 children. 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. (Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach via AP), halted her execution and sent her case back for, But she, her family and attorneys say she is innocent and was wrongfully convicted. Lucio was kind and gentle; Toon couldnt imagine that she was capable of killing anyone, let alone her own daughter. Now, her family, more than 80 state lawmakers from both parties, and even some of the jurors who convicted her say she should live. My mom got a stay., After sobs and hugs in the lobby, the family raced to see Lucio. Prosecutors at her . Melissa Lucio's high-profile fight to overturn her conviction for murdering her daughter has gained the support of politicians, celebrities and even members of the jury that originally sentenced . The medical examiner concluded Mariah died from a blow to her head. "The death of our sister Mariah and the prosecution of our parents tore our family apart. But Lucio had no history of child abuse. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death, July 10, 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. Please give us a chance for peace. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Melissa Lucio was pregnant with twins when she was arrested in 2007. She is the mother of 14 children, including Mariah. The fourth claim argues the state suppressed evidence favorable to her defense, violating her rights to due process. Melissa Elizabeth Lucio is the talk of the town after being the first woman of Hispanic descent in Texas to be sentenced to death. ", "Everything," he replied. Mariahs father, Roberto Antonio Alvarez was also arrested in relation to her death but he was only convicted of endangering a child and sentenced to four years in prison. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. The case hinges on an interrogation of Lucio conducted two hours after Mariah died, during which officers tried to get Lucio to confess to hurting her daughter. She said she was constantly sexually abused by her first husband, who later left and separated with her five children. On April 27, the day Lucio was set to die, they held another rally outside the Cameron Country DAs office, this time calling on Saenz to drop the charges. Mondays ruling followed months of work by Lucios attorneys, including those from the Innocence Project, and mounting calls for mercy. And then whichever judge remains on the case will decide the disqualification of the district attorney if he does not recuse himself., Regardless of who ends up in charge, Lucios family and advocates are not waiting onthe courts. As a result, they argue, in part, executing her would violate constitutional guarantees of a right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment. Separately, all eyes on Monday had been on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which had been expected to vote on a recommendation for clemency in Lucios case. "She is not guilty of the death of my baby sister.". appreciated. Melissa Lucio is the mother of 14 children, five from her first marriage and nine from her second, according to theInnocence Project. Published May 2, 2022 10:56 a.m. PDT. Her attorneys are calling for a stay of her execution so her case may be reviewed. FilmRise. Abbott's office did not respond to a request for comment, but in March the governor said he was awaiting a decision by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. In recordings of an interrogation, Lucio who was pregnant with twins at the time is heard denying guilt. AP There is significant evidence of her innocence that no court, no fact finder has ever considered. It was 2007, and Melissa was living a difficult life with her then-husband Robert Antonio Alvarez and her 12 children, while she was pregnant with twins. It was during one of those moves - on 15 February 2007 - that Melissa's two-year-old daughter was injured. "No court has ever considered the new evidence of Melissa Lucio's innocence," says Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project and one of Lucio's attorneys. So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio's children begging for the state not to . Protestors outside the Cameron County Courthouse advocate to overturn Melissa Lucio's death sentence. Melissa Lucio Early Life. Lucios lawyers argue that Dr. Norma Farley, the forensic pathologist who autopsied Mariah, misled the jury when she insisted that Mariahs injuries could only have resulted from a fatal beating. Similarly, movie personalities have produced Melissa Lucios story in either documentaries, shorts, or movies, but no one could deny the fact that she would be sentenced to death. "So first and foremost, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals could issue a stay so that the evidence of Melissa Lucio's innocence can be fully litigated in the court. Melissa Lucio is seen here in an undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Her husband continued to abuse her physically, emotionally and sexually, even giving birth to 5 children at the age of 5 and abandoning the whole family, leaving Lucio and her children behind. As of 2021, Melissa has been on death row for 13 years. "Do it real hard," he said. In 2019 the 5th U.S. During the five-hour-long interrogation, officers berated and . Melissa Lucio was born on July 18, 1968 in Lubbock, Texas. CNN has reached out to prosecutors for comment. Mariah reportedly did not have any visible injuries, but after Lucio put her down for a nap, she did not wake up and was later taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead. Her lawyers said thatthestatement was wrongly interpretedby prosecutors as a murder confession, tainting the rest of the investigation into Mariahs death. She also has the support of an unprecedented bipartisan coalition of 87 Texas lawmakers. 02:43 - Source: CNN. 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. Looking at her pictures, we can identify that she is overweight. Melissa Lucios loved ones react to her stay of execution during a press conference in Gatesville, Texas, on April 25, 2022. on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadnt done it? Calls for mercy grow days before Melissa Lucio is set to be executed, I am grateful the Court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence, Lucio said in a statement. The second claim says new scientific evidence would prevent Lucios conviction. Some of that evidence, says Potkin, was not disclosed to the defense as they were preparing for trial. Melissa's execution date is set for April 27, 2022. 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. Over the years, it has routinely allowed executions to go forward even in cases where there were serious questions about a defendants guilt. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Bipartisan Senate group unveils rail safety bill in response to Ohio derailment, What to know about Shigella bacteria as drug-resistant strain spreads, Children plead to save mother from execution, Children say toddler's death was accident, plead to save mom from execution: "She's innocent". Melissa Lucio is seen here in an undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Lucio and her attorneys have not had success in reversing the initial verdict. 2. It was sending her case back to district court to consider several pressing claims, including that Lucio was innocent in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. Melissa Lucio holds her daughter Mariah in this undated photograph. But minutes before the boards decision was anticipated, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued its ruling. Greg Abbott to spare their mom's life. According to local media, others are still convinced she committed the crime - Melissa had a previously had a history of drug use and some of her children had been taken into care, the jurors heard at her trial - though there was no evidence of abuse. Her second life partner continued to rape her and threatened her with death. At least for now. "At the same time, here we are, seven days away from her execution date. Lucio's children previously wrote a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, pleadingGov. We felt like David and Goliath, she said, as she and Luna did what they could to push Lucios case into the spotlight. The appeals court remanded, or sent back, several claims Lucio raised in an application for a writ of habeas corpus which demands a public official show a valid reason for a persons detention and ordered the trial court to conduct a merits review.. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). April 28, 2022 5:23 PM EDT. Its unclear how long the process could take. Since turning 18, he described meeting with his mother on death row as he backed her claims that Mariahs death was an accident. While in interrogation, Lucio had denied murdering her child dozens of times, but her lawyers argue that her history of sexual assault and abuse often leads to false confessions, NPR reports. Mariah is in my heart today and always.. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Daniela is Melissa's eldest daughter. Among those calling for a stay of execution are a bipartisan group of 103 members of the Texas legislature - including 32 Republican . Her family maintains her innocence and has pushed hard to get her off death row. From the moment he walked into the interview room, Escalon testified, he knew that Lucio had done something. The notion that a person can determine anothers guilt or deception through their body language has been roundly discredited. 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. Leach, a co-chair of the House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus, worked with Democratic Rep. Joe Moody to muster an unprecedented level of support for Lucio among an ideologically diverse group of more than 80 state representatives more than half of the members of the Texas House, a body that rarely comes to a decisive consensus about anything. Watch Live: Closing arguments begin in double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, Intel review says "very unlikely" foreign adversary behind "Havana Syndrome", Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter was racing in deadly crash, arrest warrants allege, Watch Live: Garland testifies amid ongoing special counsel investigations, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. Texas is scheduled to execute Melissa Lucio next month. Among their arguments is that Lucio was particularly prone to providing a false confession as a lifelong survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence. She is scheduled to be put to death on April 27. It came as it was revealed that Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. Mariah is in my heart today and always. Video, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, Record numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. The third claim by Lucios attorneys says that scientific evidence shows Mariah was not murdered. The children are featured in Van Tassel's documentary, as is original interview footage from the time of Lucio's arrest. Experts on false confessions who reviewed the interrogation tapes say Lucio was especially vulnerable, as a victim of child sexual abuse and later domestic violence, developing defense mechanisms. She received abuse throughout her childhood and teenage years. She said that she was all the time sexually abused by her first husband who later left her along with five children and parted away. That is our criminal jurisprudence system and it is working., The notion that Saenz would be eager to retry Lucio rather than drop the charges offended Death Penalty Action activist Charles Keith, who spent the past several months traveling to the Cameron County courthouse in Brownsville. 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. As a poor woman of minority background living in south Texas, she had no money to hire a lawyer and was instead given a court-appointed attorney, who made errors that resulted in an unfair trial, Melissa's current lawyers have said. Two days later, Mariah went to take a nap and did not wake up. Viewing all of the available evidence no rational juror would have found Ms. Lucio guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.. 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. (AP) There is a motion pending in the trial court to disqualify him from further participation in this case, Schardl said. By Monday morning, there was a fair amount of speculation spreading among activists about what would happen; word was that the board had already made its decision and would make its announcement by early afternoon. But it seems the relentless pressure from activists and lawmakers, combined with the mounting evidence of Lucios innocence, was too much to simply ignore. But the state of Texas appealed the decision, and the case then went to the 17 judges that comprise the 5th Circuit. Melissa Lucio is the mother of 14 children, five from her first marriage and nine from her second, according to the Innocence Project. She should never have the opportunity to abuse another child again. Former Cameron County . Maggie Luna was beaming from ear to ear, and Jennifer Toon had tears in her eyes. According to Melissa's statements to the police, the little girl was left without adult supervision while her parents were busy. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat Mariah but Lucio has long denied that, saying her daughter died from injuries sustained during a fall down a flight of stairs. 2023 Cable News Network. When the news broke, the small crowd gathered outside the governors public reception room at the Texas Capitol erupted with cheers: The states Court of Criminal Appeals had stayed Melissa Lucios impending execution. 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. Child Protective Services was present in the family's life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, lawyer Vanessa Potkin said. 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 . But at least four of those jurors now agree Lucio should get a new trial, given the new evidence and testimony they didn't see. The 53-year-old is in the news because she is facing execution. That includes the medical examiner who Lucios application says conducted Mariahs autopsy, ignored indications that Mariahs fatal condition had another cause, and testified the injuries could only have been caused by abuse without exploring the fall down the stairs two days before. We certainly want Melissa to get her hearing as quickly as possible, Schardl said. Juanita Hernandez and her son Juan hug Esperanza Hope Trevino, the mother of Melissa Lucio, during a vigil in San Juan, Tex., on April 22, 2022. According to prosecutors, the injuries inflicted on Mariah were the result of physical abuse, while Lucios lawyer says the daughter was injured because she fell down the stairs two days before her death. After reviewing her claims and the evidence, the court would then make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would ultimately decide whether Lucio gets a new trial. Since turning 18, he described meeting with his mother on death row as he backed her claims that Mariahs death was an accident. 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