The hourslong interrogation ended with Lucio being coerced into confessing, her legal team has said, arguing that her past experiences with physical abuse and sexual assault made her susceptible to taking responsibility for her daughter's death even though, they said, she was innocent. BROWNSVILLE - Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection in the 13th Judicial District Court, according to a Cameron county District Attorney's Office release. We speak to one of Lucio's attorneys . ET:This article has been updated to reflect the latest news in this case. I was wrong", "I am sending a letter to Governor @GregAbbot_Tx", "Texas death row prisoner Melissa Lucio granted stay of execution", "Hulu Acquires U.S. Rights to Tribeca Documentary, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melissa_Lucio&oldid=1139933110, Articles with failed verification from December 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 16:02. Lucio is set to be executed on April 27 for the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah. Courtesy of the family of Melissa Lucio via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The Cameron County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted Lucio, declined to comment. As Lucio's case hangs in the balance, a group of bipartisan Texas lawmakers led by Republican Rep. Jeff Leach is pleading with Gov. Guarnera said she believes a practice used by police in Europe, called the Peace model, would help people in situations similar to Lucio's. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. Abraham Bonowitz, co-founder and director of anti-death penalty advocacy group Death Penalty Action, said he believes that filmmaker Sabrina Van Tassel's Hulu documentary, "The State of Texas vs. Melissa," which follows Lucio as she appeals her case, speaks to her innocence. We're asking the governor and Board of Pardons and Paroles and the district attorney, which are the three [political] entities that can do something about this, to watch the filmbecause we believe anybody that watches this film will come away at least with doubt if not being convinced of Melissa's innocence," Bonowitz said. The death penalty is wrong. A spokeswoman for Abbott's office did not return an email seeking comment. Advertisement : [emailprotected] At Ms. Lucios trial, the medical examiner testified that the bruises and injuries on Mariahs body could only have been caused by abuse. Lucio, sentenced to death for killing her daughter, maintains her innocence. Lucio is set to be executed on April 27 for the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah. The boy then responded: "No, I saw her fall. I'm responsible for it," she said, according to the petition. Selina, the fifth of Lucios 14 children, initially came forward on TikTok back in 2021 after the release of The State Of Texas vs. Melissa, a documentary on Hulu that covers the case and Lucios fight to have her conviction overturned. She was interrogated for five hours by armed police officers who reportedly berated her. He continued by telling her, "We already know what happened". During her interrogation, Ms. Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times, until she was manipulated into falsely taking responsibility for some of Mariahs injuries by police officers. the youngest of her 12 children at the time Ms. Lucio was taken into police custody and immediately blamed for her daughters death. BROWNSVILLE - Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection in the 13th Judicial District Court, according to a Cameron county District Attorney's Office release. Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles in March of this year, arguing an unreliable confession and "unscientific, false evidence that misled the jury into believing that Mariah Alvarez must have been killed by physical abuse, when the evidence is actually consistent with a conclusion that Mariah died from medical complications after a fall" based on the declarations of various experts. RELATED: Rumors Swirl That Kim Kardashian May Eventually Run For Office What A Kardashian Presidency Could Look Like. Whitaker was convicted of masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother. Family photo via AP [4] As of 2022, Lucio is being held on death row[14] at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Lucio was married at the age of 16 and had her first five children with Guadalupe Lucio. She is now fighting to stop her April 27 execution. [11][12] A pathologist, Dr. Norma J. Farley, testified that the childs autopsy indicated that she did not die from falling down stairs, and instead her injuries were consistent with a death from blunt force trauma. They also claim that Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos had previously been accused of inadequately investigating over 100 claims of child abuse. Two days later, she took a nap and didnt wake up. 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Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. The woman, Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14, was found guilty back in 2008 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio," said state Rep. Jeff Leach, who signed the letter. Though Selina believes her mother is guilty, she does not want her to be killed and says she signed the petition to request clemency for Lucio. Web: www.ghgossip.com, About Us Contact Advertise Privacy Policy, Get To Know Neil Wagner: Biography, Age, Career, Net Worth, Height, Relationship & More. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. Melissa , a documentary set to be released in 2020, is based on her case. Melissa Lucio is where she needs to be locked up behind bars for the death of her 2 year old daughter Mariah Alvarez. 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 young daughter Mariah died and had many injuries like bruises on her head kidneys lungs spinal cord and other places. Death Row Stories, a Netflix documentary set to premiere this Friday (May 25), has revealed Lucio’s twisted thoughts and the heinous crime she committed. Melissa Lucio holds her daughter Mariah. 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. In a letter last month to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and to Abbott, 83 Texas House members said executing Lucio would be "a miscarriage of justice.". "You can see this in Melissa Lucio's case. Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age 6, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. In 2019, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Ms. Lucio is a survivor of life-long, repeated sexual assault and domestic violence. Lucio's lawyers say the evidence shows it was a tragic accident. Isla Bryson Parents: Who Are The Parents Of Isla Bryson? In late 2006 Lucio got back the other kids after three older kids went to live with their father in Houston. The State presented no physical evidence or witness testimony establishing that Lucio abused Mariah or any of her children, let alone killed Mariah, Judge Catharina Haynes wrote on behalf of the seven dissenting judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in response to the States scheduling of Lucios execution on April 27, 2022. Child Protective Services found that Lucios younger children were often left with their older siblings during a previous investigation into her for neglecting her children. Ms. Lucio had nine more children, including Mariah. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone. Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. He got a four-year sentence for causing injury to a child by omission even though he also was responsible for Mariah's care, Lucio's lawyers argue. Mariah was crying but did not appear to have any serious injuries, Lucio said. ", The investigator went on to say that he knew Lucio wanted to confess "because she's giving that slouched appearance.". No physical evidence showed otherwise. Still a minor and unable to leave the abusive marriage, Ms. Lucio was trapped and developed a substance use problem. The state argued that Lucio confessed to a pattern of abusing Mariah and to inflicting fatal blows to the . In shock and grieving the loss of her baby the youngest of her 12 children at the time Ms. Lucio was taken into police custody and immediately blamed for her daughters death. On April 12, attorneys for Melissa filed a supplemental clemency application including a new declaration from a fifth juror Melissas jury foreperson who joins the calls of four other jurors and the alternate to halt Melissas pending execution or grant her a new trial where new evidence of her innocence can be considered. She started abusing only my sister, Mariah.. He also stated that Lucio's execution would be a terrible tragedy. Click to reveal However, pathologists who have reviewed the evidence have concluded that this testimony was false. They contend Mariah died from injuries from a fall down the 14 steps of a steep staircase outside the family's apartment in the South Texas city of Harlingen. Email: [emailprotected] According to The Marshall Project, Crain, who maintains her innocence, wrote that she had flashbacks to her abusive husband when she was being yelled at by a detective. I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. Lucio, who is an inmate on Texas death row, is set to be executed on Apr. Lucio said that Mariah had fallen down a steep staircase during the family's move to a new apartment two days prior, but did not appear seriously injured, according to court records. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. 27, 2022 for the 2007 death of Mariah. He says he didnt know about Mariah Alvarezs serious injuries before she passed away. jsTikTok.async = true; Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez welcomed Mariah into the world in September 2004. ET:This article has been updated to reflect the latest news in this case. Selina claims that none of her other siblings were abusive towards Mariah. My moms sisters said that she would get a lesser sentence if we said we abused my sister, Selina adds. Lucio's supporters have said her clemency request is similar in that her family would be retraumatized if she's executed. A psychologist who reviewed recent testing of Melissa said that Melissa has highly abnormal levels of vulnerability to police coercion because of her background. However, Ms. Lucios husband perpetuated the cycle of abuse. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter, Mariah Alvarez Autopsy In the U.S. state of Texas, Melissa Lucio is the first woman of Hispanic descent to receive a death sentence. The officers relied on their presumptions about how a mother should act in this tragic scenario and their gut-feeling, without a thorough forensic examination of the evidence to draw an unscientific presumption of guilt, which then created tunnel vision of investigators and the interrogating officers. Two more children (twins) were born while she was imprisoned. Shortly after Mariah was born, Lucio tested positive for cocaine use; as a result, authorities decided to place her children in foster care. Lucio was convicted of killing her daughter, Mariah Alvarez, 15 years ago in . To date, over 100 bipartisan Texas lawmakers signed letters urging the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for Melissa. On the other hand, her lawyers have been claiming that she was wrongfully convicted of beating her own child. Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing the latest news from the Innocence Project. Five of Lucios children were not living with her at the time of Mariah's death. They also say Lucio wasn't allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession. At the time, Lucio said, the toddler didn't appear to be hurt, ABC News reported, citing court records. Officers contaminated the confession by repeatedly showing Ms. Lucio photographs of relevant evidence and suggesting certain words and facts, which she ultimately parroted back to the officers. It would be an absolutely devastating message for this execution to go forward. The U.S. Supreme Court in October declined to review a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that upheld her conviction, paving the way for her execution. They were returned to Lucio three months before Mariahs death. The Cameron Countys new district attorney, the courts, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Gov. Mariah Alvarez was born to Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez in September 2004. Her young daughter Mariah died and had many injuries like bruises on her head kidneys lungs spinal cord and . In the 2020 documentary "The State of Texas vs. Melissa," Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah. American woman controversially sentenced to death, Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, List of death row inmates in the United States, List of people scheduled to be executed in the United States, List of women on death row in the United States, "Woman with Lubbock ties to be executed, many take up the cause to stop it", "Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed for a crime that may not have occurred", "Is Texas Sending Melissa Lucio to Die for a Crime That Never Happened? Unfortunately for her, this is also around the time that she claims to have been sexually abused by her mothers boyfriend for two years starting at age seven. var tiktokscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; However, the full court in 2021 said the conviction had to be upheld for procedural reasons, "despite the difficult issue of the exclusion of testimony that might have cast doubt on the credibility of Lucio's confession.". "Please allow us to reconcile with Mariah's death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish and grief. Hours after Mariah's death, Lucio was interrogated by police for over five hours, according to her lawyers. "She gets very emotional because no one believed her for so many years that she was innocent. In a now-deleted tweet, Kardashian described the crime as a tragic accident. However, some of Lucios children have spoken out, insisting that their mother is guilty. Court documents show that prosecutors argued at Lucio's trial that she had repeatedly abused Mariah and killed her by hitting her in the head. As a result, she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation, according to her legal team. However, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who reviewed the evidence concluded that the medical examiners testimony was misleading and there is nothing about Mariahs fracture that indicates that it was the result of an intentional act or abuse This was an extremely common type of injury among toddlers that can result from a fall from standing height. "There are already police departments around the world who have this more investigatory, fact-finding model," Guarnera said. He spoke in emotional support of his mother at a press conference on Friday held by civic engagement nonprofit Somos Tejas, Texas state Rep. Victoria Neave Criado and other Texas state legislators saying that his family "hasn't been the same" since her incarceration. Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. Abbott can grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve. Mariah was the twelfth child of Lucio. Lucio was convicted in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and sentenced to be executed. Mechanic agreed, describing dissociation as a coping mechanism. The brief states that Lucio's subdued behavior and acquiescence during interrogation were the result of prior trauma as a survivor of abuse. You know? Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. If a majority of the Board of Pardons and Paroles were to recommend it, Governor Greg Abbott could grant clemency. An Innocence Project petition calling for a stop to Lucio's execution has surpassed its goal, having received over 185,000 signatures. And experts who have reviewed Ms. Lucios case, including her interrogation records, have concluded that Ms. Lucio was relentlessly pressured and extensively manipulated during the interrogation. She said that her boyfriend was often violent and used drugs and alcohol. She has maintained her innocence, and Cornell Law School professor Sandra Babcock has called the prosecution "by far the weakest capital case I've ever seen". "She was a good mother. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. 11 Strict Rules That Elon Musk Makes His Girlfriends & Wives Follow, Justin Bieber Suspected As The Father Of Kourtney Kardashian's Son Reign (Instead Of Scott Disick), Why Kate Moss Was 'Scared' & 'Couldn't Get Out Of Bed For Weeks' After Working With Mark Wahlberg. Guarnera said these are excellent tips to follow, but pointed out that detectives often do the opposite when they believe someone is a suspect and not a victim. During her trial, those statements were presented to the jury as her confession. ron lobos management, Family of Melissa Lucio 's execution has surpassed its goal, having received over 185,000.! 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