After finding no other injuries, Melissa said she had continued on with her day. What evidence would you have? 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. The woman, Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14, was found guilty back in . Texas woman on death row receives bipartisan support for clemency from state officials. After five hours of questioning, during which Lucio expressed her innocence more than 100 times, she eventually said "I guess I did it" when asked if she was responsible for some of her daughter's injuries. Lucio was pregnant with twin boys at the time of Mariah's death and when she was interrogated. At this time, it . After the death of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, the court charged her with capital murder. Her lawyers said thatthestatement was wrongly interpretedby prosecutors as a murder confession, tainting the rest of the investigation into Mariahs death. The father to Lucio's eldest children lived in Houston, Texas and did . Protestors outside the Cameron County Courthouse advocate to overturn Melissa Lucio's death sentence. "No.". The evidence presented in this case shows that, at about 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 17, 2007, paramedics were dispatched to an apartment where Melissa Lucio lived with nine of her children and an adult male named Robert Alvarez, who was the father of at least seven of these children and whom Melissa Lucio referred to as her husband. "She is not guilty of the death of my baby sister.". 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. "I hit her like this," she demonstrated by spanking a doll, sealing her fate. Who Are Melissa Lucio Kids? I even told her myself that I consider her my best friend. If the execution goes ahead, she would be the first Latina to be executed in the state of Texas. It was fitting that Leach would deliver the news. 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. Before all this, "we were a large family and we were very united", her eldest son, John, told BBC. Melissa Lucio was repeatedly raped as a child, became a child bride at 16 and had 14 children to two abusive partners (The State of Texas vs. Melissa/ Hulu/ Sabrina Van Tassel) 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. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much In issuing a stay of execution on Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said Melissa's case deserved further scrutiny given mistakes made during the original prosecution, as well as new information that has emerged over the past decade and a half while she has been in jail. On 27 April, Melissa Lucio was supposed to die. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. Following her conviction, she was sentenced to a death sentence by lethal injection in the year July of the . For a time, the only access they had to water was through their neighbours' houses or from the parish.". 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. In a phone call on Monday, Johnny Galvan, one of several jurors who supported Lucios clemency petition, expressed relief upon hearing that the court had stayed Lucios execution. Child Protection Services records show Lucio was neglectful, but not violent against any of her children. Lucio's thoughts are with her children, Potkin said, as she talks to friends about the roles they could play in the life of her kids if she is not alive after next week. ", Speaking to CBS Mornings he said: 'If they go through with it, they'll be killing an innocent woman.. I think she should be allowed to live as long as she does not have the possibility of parole. 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. The state of Texas has scheduled the execution in the Melissa Lucio case for April 27. Luciano asked Bobby Alvarez, "What would it mean to you to have your mom back with you? Who is Melissa Lucio? To prevent Lucio from being executed, Texas Gov. Everybodyknows who she is., Liliana Segura[emailprotected]theintercept.com@lilianasegura, Jordan Smith[emailprotected]theintercept.com@chronic_jordan. Toon had been the inmate librarian at the Mountain View prison unit where Texass female death row prisoners are housed, and shed gotten to know Lucio over the years. At this time, it remains unclear if Lucio's execution will be overturned. 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. hide caption. Among their arguments is that Lucio was particularly prone to providing a false confession as a lifelong survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence. But minutes before the boards decision was anticipated, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued its ruling. This child had more bruises than Ive ever seen in any case that I had before, she said. Police blamed Lucio for . "Do it real hard," he said. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ). 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. In 2008, Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of her 2-year old daughter Mariah, who died two days after a tragic fall down a flight of stairs. "Her so-called confession was the result of highly coercive interrogation tactics," said Potkin, "some of which are so coercive that they're no longer used today.". "At the same time, here we are, seven days away from her execution date. 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. VideoRecord numbers of guide dog volunteers after BBC story. 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. 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. 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. The legal team also addressed lingering questions about whether Saenz would even be eligible to retry Lucio. Im hoping its not the same evidence Mr. Villalobos had. Mariah's body was riddled with bruises and the medical examiner automatically declared Mariah's death by homicide via child abuse. Ms. Lucio was taken for questioning and was interrogated for nearly five hours, at the time she was pregnant and was going through a shock of the loss of her young child Mariah. Lucio has always maintained her innocence. 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. To say Im wrestling with the very existence of the death penalty in Texas would be a dramatic understatement, Leach said. "Their electric service was cut, they moved some 26 times in a five-year period. The idea that the office mightve engaged in legal trickery to invigorate their case against Lucio is hardly surprising; then-District Attorney Armando Villalobos was trying to rehabilitate his reelection campaign amid allegations of corruption, and he was up against a challenger who had taken him to task for failing to prosecute child abuse cases. She gave birth to the twins while in jail and was forced to give them up for adoption. In 2007, Lucio's family was living in a second-floor apartment in Harlingen, in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, and the family was preparing and packing to move to a new home. Toon wondered why Lucios story wasnt getting as much attention as the cases of some of the men on Texass death row. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. It was potentially one of the last times he would see her alive. 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 . Lucios son John was in Gatesville, Texas, on Monday afternoon, preparing for a visit with his mother at the nearby Mountain View unit. Later, Lucio had nine more children with her next husband, who also turned out to be abusive to her. Lucio's thoughts are with her children . The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Lucio's children previously wrote a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, pleadingGov. . 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. Error compounded error, the lawyers wrote in their petition to the Court of Criminal Appeals. A Warner Bros. As the process unfolds, she will remain on death row, her legal team said. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. Over the last month, Leach, a self-professed supporter of capital punishment, became increasingly vocal about his concerns, vowing to do everything I can in every way possible to prevent Lucios execution. Oh my God. 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. Mariah is in my heart today and always.. By Maurice Chammah. Among those calling for a stay of execution are a bipartisan group of 103 members of the Texas legislature - including 32 Republican . According to the state, Lucio, then a mother of 12 who struggled with drug addiction, had beaten her toddler to death in February 2007. According to Melissa's statements to the police, the little girl was left without adult supervision while her parents were busy. She admitted that she had spanked Mariah on the butt, but denied abusing her. Her husband continued to abuse her physically, emotionally, and sexually, producing 5 children even at the age of being minor, and abandoned the whole family leaving behind Lucio and her kids. In this undated photograph, Melissa Lucio holds one of her sons, John. 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 . At the time of Lucio's trial, Villalobos was running for reelection against a challenger who criticized him for not thoroughly investigating or prosecuting charges of child abuse. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death, July 10, 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. 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 2007, Melissa Lucio's life was thrown upside down when her then 2 year old daughter Mariah died. "Over 100 times, she asserted her innocence," said Potkin. On 25th April 2022, the Texas Court issued a stay of execution and ordered the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County to consider new evidence in the case of Lucio for her innocence regarding the death of her daughter Mariah. The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. 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. "You know, it's my mom. 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