Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. Lucio, 53, was set. After nearly a decade on death row, Melissa Lucio's life was spared at the 11th hour. Your email address will not be published. Jones will instead get a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The Rangers are famous for their unorthodox interrogation methods, as The Marshall Project reported recently. Cameron County officials signed the execution warrant for Melissa Lucio, 53, a Harlingen woman found guilty of beating her two-year-old daughter to death in February 2007. Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. But it sends a message that the courts need to be paying more attention to questions of innocence, he said, pointing not just to Lucio but also Rodney Reed, another Texas death row inmate who has also claimed innocence and whose case will be heard by the Supreme Court. But as new details have emerged about her case . That's what Potkin said happened to Lucio in 2007. Melissa Lucio did not murder her daughter. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Her lawyers say Lucio's history of sexual and physical abuse led to her giving an unreliable confession. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals intervened Monday, granting Lucio's lawyers' request for a stay of execution so a lower court can . Did you encounter any technical issues? 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. The child was in a very serious condition, but she died a few hours later. In grainy video footage of an interrogation, a Texas Ranger grills Melissa Lucio, a forty-year-old mother who is slumped in a chair, with an exhausted and vacant look in her eyes. . He also stated that Lucio's execution would be a terrible tragedy. 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. After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, Governor Stitt said in a statement. That evidence included information from a Child Protective Services investigator who had interviewed some of Lucios other children, who corroborated Mariahs fall and her deteriorating health and discounted allegations of abuse by their mother. Lucios second claim the trial court will review argues the previously unavailable scientific evidence would have prevented a jury from finding Lucio guilty. In previous appeals, Lucios lawyers have argued that much of the states narrative rests on flawed science that the bite marks allegedly found on Mariahs body, for example, werent really from bites, and that the head trauma really could have stemmed from the fall. Lucio has been on Texas's death row since 2008 for killing her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. But Lucios statements bear the characteristics of a false confession, they say, citing two experts something Lucios second claim argues she was particularly prone to giving due to her history as a lifelong survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Following Mariah's autopsy reports, Mariah had bruises on her body, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm. New evidence and expert testimony emerged casting strong doubt on her guilt. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old. Lucio was in the process of moving when Mariah got through a screen door and fell down the stairs, Potkin said. Had he been permitted to testify, Dr. Pinkerman would have explained that Melissa dissociated from the reality of losing her daughter and numbed her emotions to distance herself from the pain. Email 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. Discovery Company. Right there and then, I knew she did something, he later testified. They found 80. From what has been gathered by FOXVibes, Lucio was executed as compensation for Sophias murder. At the time of her death, Mariahs body was covered in bruises in various stages of healing, her arm had been broken several weeks earlier and she had what authorities believed was a bite mark on her back, court documents show. She was convicted 14 years ago of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and a Texas jury sentenced her to death. Lucio had already spent five hours that night, in February 2007, answering questions about the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. GATESVILLE, Texas Time is running out for Melissa Lucio, her loved ones and total strangers who are fighting to save her from the Texas execution chamber. Maurice Chammah Fourteen years after she was sent to Texas death row, Melissas Lucio will finally get the chance to have new evidence of her innocence claims examined in state court. As a result, the testimony of these witnesses was false, Lucios attorneys argue, entitling her to relief. This purportedly suppressed evidence, the document says, would have shown: authorities knew there were witnesses who said Lucio did not abuse her children; there were other family members aware Mariah fell down the stairs; and Mariah hadnt shown any sign her arm was injured in the weeks before her death, among others. Doctors pronounced her dead shortly afterward at a local hospital. Melissa Lucio was facing execution on April 25th, 2022 but just two days prior, she has been granted a stay of execution. While prosecutors argued at trial that Lucio was an abusive mother who caused the injuries that led to the girls death, Lucios attorneys say those injuries were the result of a fall down stairs two days earlier outside the familys apartment. Jan . ", Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at The Innocence Project, told CBS that Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times during the five-hour interrogation, but authorities "refused to listen to her, sending the clear message that this interrogation wasn't going to stop until she told the officers what they wanted to hear. 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. Publisher - Celebrity News, Biographies And Social Content. Lucio and her husband were moving out of their second-story unit in February 2007 when, her lawyers claim, their 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, fell down the staircase. Lucio, 52, had been set to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the death of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah in Harlingen, a city . We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. as a way to protect their children from arrest. A spokesperson for Governor Abbotts office did not return an email seeking comment. Roughly half of the women reported past trauma or abuse. In November 2021, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt called off the execution of Julius Jones, a Black death row inmate who has long maintained his innocence in the 1999 murder that put him behind bars. Her lawyers say Lucio's history of sexual and physical abuse led to her giving an unreliable confession. No more.. In 2007, Melissa Lucio 's 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, died after a tragic, accidental fall down a flight of stairs. Given the evidence, much of it outlined above, no rational juror would have found Ms. Lucio guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it says. Lucio claimed that her daughter had fallen down the stairs . The creators identity is still unknown to the public. The statement added: "Mariah is in my heart today and always. An appeals lawyer for Lucio filed a clemency petition with the federal government, citing medical experts who say that Mariah's bruising was caused by a fall. After Melissa was sent away to prison, Melissa's eldest daughter Daniela took primary responsibility for raising her then-underage siblings. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear her case last year, but a brief from advocates and experts on domestic violence questioned the Texas Rangers claim that Lucios slumped posture and other passive behavior suggested she was guilty and ready to confess. But in the interrogation room, it means getting out of the room by any means necessary and the only way out is confession.. Is Area Code 657 Scams (2022) Be Aware Of These Frauds! Lucio "ended up on death row through a horrific combination of investigative missteps and a prosecution . The Marshall Project and The 19th could not reach Lucios two ex-husbands, but Sabrina Van Tassel, the filmmaker who directed The State of Texas vs. Melissa, a documentary on the case, said both declined to speak to her on the record. A DEATH row inmate was convicted on a coerced confession during a five-hour interrogation and false medical testimonies, her lawyer said. One of those jurors, Johnny Galvan, Jr., wrote in a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, "I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. A trial court-level judge will review her request and prosecutors response before making a recommendation to the state appeals court, which will decide whether she gets a new trial. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. According to. Representative Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who describes himself as a conservative Republican and a death penalty supporter, led off a news conference calling the trial of Lucio a miscarriage of justice, Spectrum News 1 reports. CNN has reached out to prosecutors, the Texas Rangers and the medical examiner for comment. Escalon is now a senior official at the Texas Department of Public Safety, where a spokesman declined to make him available for an interview. Fernando Del Solar Children: Luciano Cacciamani Coronado, Paolo Caiamani Coronado. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter but Lucio has long denied that, saying Mariah died from injuries sustained during a fall down a flight of stairs. Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. Juries hate women who dont protect their children, even if those women can be killed themselves. Large-scale comparisons of sentencing outcomes are rare, but multiple studies have argued that stereotypes about motherhood have shaped how women are portrayed in courtrooms and the media. "They showed her pictures of her dead child, screamed at her, and called her a bad mother," Potkin said. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. SinceDeath By Mama is a documentary about a death-row inmate that airs on ABC, amazing images of Melissa Lucios death are being released. Melissa Lucio has spent the last 15 years on death row after she was convicted of capital murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. Melissa Lucio is facing the death penalty for the murder of her six-year-old daughter. This, Read More Did The Creator of Roblox Die (Updated Sep) Read!Continue, Are you a sports lover? For decades, psychologists have sought to understand why people falsely confess to crimes. No matter what, you can always turn to The Marshall Project as a source of trustworthy journalism about the criminal justice system. If Lucio is put to death, she would become the first Latina woman in Texas history to be executed. A jury found Lucio guilty of capital murder in the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, who fell down 14 steep steps. However, that decision was short lived. But many critics have said the confession, in which she merely admits spanking the child but not abusing her, was coerced after many hours of interrogation. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. Read for more to, Read More Is Area Code 657 Scams (2022) Be Aware Of These Frauds!Continue, Fernando Del Solar is an Argentine actor and model who has a long career in film, television, and modelling. But the stay of execution and the remand for consideration of these claims is extraordinarily significant, Dunham added, describing the ruling this week as an open door, a threshold that had to be crossed for Melissa Lucio to have her day in court.. Lucio was convicted, in part, they argue, on the basis of statements she made to authorities in an hourslong guilt-presumptive interrogation the night her daughter died. Watch on. During the interrogation, she was grieving and in shock, sleep-deprived, pregnant, and "vulnerable to the aggressive, intimidating and psychologically manipulative tactics" of the police, according to the clemency application. "Do it real hard," he said. I know its the wrong approach, Mr Leach said. Esperanza Trevio, surrounded by family and friends, asked for the release of Lucio, her daughter, who is scheduled to be executed in April in Texas. The Jones family, as well as supporters of the large Justice for Julius movement, were at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in the town of McAlester when they learned the news, the culmination of a two-decade campaign to free Julius. We join high-profile executives like Ariana Huffington, Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg, and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Lucio, 53, was set to be executed Wednesday for capital murder in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter. An autopsy revealed that Sophia had suffered multiple injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, including skull fractures, brain hemorrhages and other internal damage. 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