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. Melissa Lucio (Provided by the Lucio family) Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. The first claim argues no juror would have convicted Lucio if prosecutors had not presented false, misleading and scientifically invalid testimony by experts. 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. This is terrifying it should be terrifying for everybody.. According to an interrogation with Lucio regarding the death of her youngest child of that time, Mariah fell down the stairs while the family was moving homes back in February 2007. At this time, it remains unclear if Lucio's execution will be overturned. She was sexually abused by one of her family members (her mother's boyfriend) at the age of 6. Potkin said Lucio was . ", "Everything," he replied. Lucio's children previously wrote a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, pleadingGov. And if he didnt have none 15 years ago, you dont have any today.. 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. According to Lucio, she was once sexually abused by her mothers boyfriend. Published May 2, 2022 10:56 a.m. PDT. As The Intercept has previously reported, Farley was unequivocal in testifying that she knew right away that Mariahhad been murdered. To say Im wrestling with the very existence of the death penalty in Texas would be a dramatic understatement, Leach said. 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 prodded Luna, then her roommate, to watch the movie. She is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Wednesday. We cannot allow the rule of law to be suspended and substituted by a court of public opinion.". 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. Please give us the chance for closure. The fourth claim argues the state suppressed evidence favorable to her defense, violating her rights to due process. Melissa Lucio [represents] everything society despises she's a woman, Hispanic, poor, she has 14 children. In recordings of an interrogation, Lucio who was pregnant with twins at the time is heard denying guilt. During an emotional press conference he stated, "I don't want my mom to be executed. ", Now, the power to save Lucio lies in the hands of Texas' Republican Governor Greg Abbott, the Board of Pardons and Parole, and the current Cameron County District Attorney, Luis V. Saenz, whose office said in a statement to CBS News: "A jury of (Lucio's) peers rendered to her a verdict. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Clemency Office declined to comment, and Abbott didn't return a request for comment. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. 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. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. April 28, 2022 5:23 PM EDT. . In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. Human error to blame for deadly train crash, says Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Lawyers for Lucio have expressed optimism that a new trial would ultimately exonerate their client. It was fitting that Leach would deliver the news. "Right now, what I have is my family," Alvarez said. Melissa Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. . The two women friends and formerly incarcerated activists had joined a broad coalition of supporters pressing every lever they could think of to try to stop the execution, scheduled for April 27. 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. Consider what the world of media would look like without The Intercept. According to the Innocence Project, it was an abusive marriage. 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 refuted Gilman's claims that some of Lucio's older children were unruly and hard to handle by foster parents. 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. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? I think she should be allowed to live as long as she does not have the possibility of parole. Lucio's attorneys say police had already decided on a narrative when they brought her in for interrogation. 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 . 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. The courts order sends the case back to Cameron County, where the trial court will be tasked with considering evidence on four claims that cut to the heart of the states case against Lucio. Update: Melissa Lucio's execution date has been set for April 27, 2022. Please give us a chance for peace. Melissa Lucio, 53, is scheduled to be executed on April 27. Former Cameron County . Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, leads a group of seven Texas lawmakers in prayer on April 6 in a room at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. The trial court will also be asked to consider the claim that Lucio is innocent of murder. Lucio was convicted in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and sentenced to be executed. The state of Texas has issued a death warrant seeking to execute Melissa Lucio (pictured), a battered woman who was sentenced to death for what may have been an accidental fall that killed her two-year-old daughter.She is scheduled to be executed April 27, 2022. For 14 years, Lucio had been on death row for the 2007 death of her then-two year old daughter, Mariah. 2. "Her next partner continued the cycle of violence, punching her in public and beating her at home. Her attorneys are seeking either a lesser charge, to remove Lucio from death row or a . Now she can prove her innocence. 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The 53-year-old was convicted in 2008 for the murder of her 2-year- old daughter, and would be the first Latina killed by the state if her execution goes as planned. State Rep. Jeff Leach said, "As a conservative Republican myself who has long been a supporter of the death penalty in the most heinous cases, I have never seen I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio.". He was accompanied by family members as well as Sabrina Van Tassel, the director of The State of Texas v. Melissa, who had traveled from Paris to witness Lucios execution. The state of Texas had planned to execute an anonymous woman, she said. Melissa Lucio was the epitome of every system in the state of Texas failing at every level: education, health, faith community, she said. She saw Mariah at the bottom with a bleeding lip, but she otherwise didn't appear to be seriously injured. As Lucio's scheduled execution date draws near, Bobby Alvarez is soaking up every moment he has with his mother, while holding onto that small speck of hope. According to the reports, she has gone through a continuous and repetitive highly abnormal level of vulnerability. Detectives rushed to judgment and, just two hours after Mariah died, took Ms. Lucio in for questioning. 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. Alexandra is also another of Melissa Lucio's elder daughters. "No, I'm not." 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. Moments after learning about her daughter's death, Melissa was questioned by the police for over five hours, without food, beverage or sleep. Director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Sabrina Van Tassel argues for Melissa Lucio's retrial. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, leads a group of seven Texas lawmakers in prayer on April 6 in a room at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. ", The stairway outside the Lucios' apartment in Harlingen, Texas, where attorneys for Melissa Lucio say her daughter Mariah fell before she died. Melissa Lucio's personal life remained in the dark for many years until the death of her daughter and she was sentenced to jail. Melissa Lucio is seen here in an undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "If Melissa does not get a stay by a certain day, then I will do what I have to do and stop it," Saenz said, as the Austin American-Statesman reported. He and Moody also convened a committee hearing to question Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, who had requested Lucios execution date. Everybodyknows who she is., Liliana Segura[emailprotected]theintercept.com@lilianasegura, Jordan Smith[emailprotected]theintercept.com@chronic_jordan. Son Bobby Alvarez, who was seven when his little sister died, described how he cried every night wanting my momma back after she was taken away. Are you serious!? 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. Photograph: The Guardian. "Do it real hard," he said. But she, her family and attorneys say she is innocent and was wrongfully convicted of capital murder. When the . Melissa Lucio was found guilty of a very serious crime called "capital murder". "Ever since this accident took place, there has been a great division amongst us. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. At the age of 16, she turned into a child bride but again had to face abusive marriage. Her cause was taken up by everyone from her living children - her eldest son the most vocal among them - to Kim Kardashian, the celebrity turned would-be lawyer. Potkin said that now is a complicated time emotionally for Lucio. After her conviction for Mariah's murder, Melissa's children were taken from her care. . As per the data, Melissa Lucio is only 5 feet 2 inches tall. 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. On April 15, Ms Lucios lawyer filed a habeas petition, appealing to her client to seek a stay of her execution, arguing that she deserves a new trial because she is innocent and wrongly arrested or misunderstood become. And that's what we're hoping for.". Child Protection Services records show Lucio was neglectful, but not violent against any of her children. "The older ones, we were more or less of age, we were the losers," he said woefully. CNN . 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