Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. Luciano asked Bobby Alvarez, "What would it mean to you to have your mom back with you? Just two days before Melissa Lucio was scheduled to be to be put to death, a Texas court on Monday halted her execution and sent her case back for review. This makes my day, he said. Melissa Lucio (Provided by the Lucio family) Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. I even told her myself that I consider her my best friend. It's a disorder, she says, that in other cases has been "confused for child abuse because it causes extensive bleeding and bruising throughout the body. Lucio, 53, is a Mexican American woman who has struggled against poverty and abuse since childhood. "Evidence that could have been exculpatory?" SAN ANTONIO - The governor of Texas is under pressure to stop the planned execution of a mother convicted of killing her child. The impact has been felt longest by Melissa's family. "It was an accident," he said. As per the data, Melissa Lucio is only 5 feet 2 inches tall. Viewing all of the available evidence no rational juror would have found Ms. Lucio guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.. John Oliver, the comedian, featured the case in a segment on wrongful convictions on his HBO news programme last month, and Kim Kardashian earlier this month tweeted a letter to the Texas governor signed by nine of Melissa's children pleading for her life to be spared. The lawyers also claim that the DAs office illegally withheld from Lucios trial counsel crucial documents generated by the states child welfare agency. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. "It's very common to be mistaken for abuse if you don't look for the signs.". The trial court in Brownsville will hold proceedings to hear the evidence of Lucios innocence, Tivon Schardl, one of Lucios attorneys and the chief of the federal public defenders capital habeas unit in the Western District of Texas, said in a news conference Monday. AMY GOODMAN: Melissa Lucio is a mother of 14 children. In recordings of an interrogation, Lucio who was pregnant with twins at the time is heard denying guilt. Lucio and her team had raised nine claims with the appeals court, four of which were remanded to the trial court. Moments later, he interrupted the interview. She was set to be executed on April 27, 2022, but was granted a stay of execution two days prior by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. 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. Lucios other claims did not meet statutory requirements, the appeals court found, and will not be reviewed. Published 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. According to an interrogation with Lucio about the death of their then-youngest child, Mariah fell down a flight of stairs in February 2007 while the family was moving. 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. But although Lucio had a history of being investigated by Child Protective Services, she had no history of physically abusing her kids. But many doubt Lucio's guilt and call into question the fairness of her trial. Now she can prove her innocence. The daughter, who was a toddler at that time, had to go through a physical disability and was unstable while walking. Lucio was kind and gentle; Toon couldnt imagine that she was capable of killing anyone, let alone her own daughter. In this undated photograph, Melissa Lucio holds one of her sons, John. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. How many covert wars, miscarriages of justice, and dystopian technologies would remain hidden if our reporters werent on the beat? Many were put up for adoption while others were split up and sent to live with relatives or placed in the custody of the . 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. Lucio's supporters say many of the issues in her trial trace back to the head prosecutor in the case, Armando Villalobos. 2:03 PM EDT, Tue April 26, 2022, Texas court grants stay of execution for death row inmate. Melissa Lucio has given birth to 14 children. Her family maintains her innocence and has pushed hard to get her off death row. But jurors didn't hear testimony from any of Lucio's kids. SAN ANTONIO - The governor of Texas is under pressure to stop the planned execution of a mother convicted of killing her child. 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. Director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Sabrina Van Tassel argues for Melissa Lucio's retrial. 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. Discovery Company. Her lawyers said thatthestatement was wrongly interpretedby prosecutors as a murder confession, tainting the rest of the investigation into Mariahs death. Still trying to come to terms with the reality of her child Toon wondered why Lucios story wasnt getting as much attention as the cases of some of the men on Texass death row. 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. 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. She is scheduled to be put to death on April 27. "She is an innocent woman," John Lucio, Melissa's eldest son, told Latino USA at a protest outside the Cameron County Courthouse in February. hide caption. There have also been questions about the testimony provided by the medical examiner alleging that injuries on Mariah's body were clear signs of abuse. He told "CBS Mornings" correspondent Lilia Luciano that he decided to get the tattoo, "because, you know, it's close to my heart. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much For 14 years, Lucio had been on death row for the 2007 death of her then-two year old daughter, Mariah. "Do it real hard," he said. "I hit her like this," she demonstrated by spanking a doll, sealing her fate. In an undated photo, Melissa Lucio is pictured with one of her young children. Melissa Lucios private life remained a mystery for many years until her daughter died and she was sentenced to prison. Melissa Lucio is the mother of 14 children, five from her first marriage and nine from her second, according to the Innocence Project. hide caption. "She is not guilty of the death of my baby sister.". "No, I'm not." Ultimately, the two women hooked up with Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, who had organized a campaign around Lucios case across Texas and beyond. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Ms Lucio was taken in for questioning and was interrogated for almost five hours while she was pregnant and going through the shock of losing her young child, Mariah. "I am only here to do what can be done for my mother.". 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Witness testimony from one of Mariah's siblings about the 2-year-old's fall down an uneven staircase two days before her death never made it before the jury, and expert witnesses were not allowed to testify on reasons why Lucio might have made a false "confession.". What does that mean?. FilmRise. But the older children had it harder. Later, after having lots of letters, penalties, executions, and statements of defense from the side of Lucios attorney, Lucio was still put in the questioning for the murder of her youngest child at that time out of a total of 12 children born to her due to two marriages. Michelle described the moment they saw Lucio inside the visitation area. 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. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. She says that after Mariah's family discovered the child had stopped breathing, they frantically called for help and the responding police rushed to judgment in concluding that Mariah's death had been a murder, due to profound bruising on her body. Courtesy of the Lucio family. Are you serious!? She was sexually abused at the age of 6 by one of her family members (her mothers boyfriend). The fact that Lucio was granted a stay at all is also relatively unusual; the Court of Criminal Appeals rarely sticks its neck out to pause the states machinery of death. Mariahs lifeless body arrived at a hospital in Harlingen, Texas, covered in bruises, which authorities immediately assumed were evidence of abuse. 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. The film screened at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival and later won Best Documentary at the Raindance Film Festival. False confessions are more common than you might think. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Melissa Lucio Early Life. "Over 100 times, she asserted her innocence," said Potkin. 2. 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