Who is Melissa Lucio and why could her death sentence be reversed?

In case of Melissa Lucio could change in the coming days in Texas, U.S. This is after the judge who presided over the 2008 trial where she was sentenced to the death penalty recommended on Friday the annulment of the sentence, after concluding that the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not share fundamental evidence that contributed to the defense of the woman of Latin origin. . The magistrate thus joined other jurors who recommended the same.

The 55-year-old woman, mother of 14 children, was found guilty of murder of her youngest daughter, Mariah Elizabeth Álvarez2 years.

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The execution of Melissa Lucio It was scheduled for Wednesday, April 27, 2022, but two days before the The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals suspended her and ordered that the evidence relating to his possible innocence be reviewed.

The American of Mexican origin sentenced to death, Melissa Lucio. (Photo: EFE/Jorge Fuentelsaz)

On Friday, the judge Arthur Nelson He issued his recommendation after the Cameron County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to withhold evidence favoring Lucio.

According to the CNN news network, a Child Protective Services report and interviews with Melissa Lucio’s surviving children This is the evidence with which Judge Nelson made his decision.

This evidence would have corroborated the theory that the defense presented at trial: Lúcio’s daughter died from injuries sustained in an accidental fall down the stairs and not from abuse committed by his mother, as the state of Texas alleged.

The case now returns Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, who has the authority to annul Lúcio’s conviction. It’s unclear when he might make a decision, CNN noted.

Before the judge Arthur Nelsonalmost half of the jurors who sentenced the death penalty to Melissa Lucio They requested that his execution be stayed and that he be given a new trial.

This is what is known about the case:

Melissa Lucio and some of her 14 children.

In your clemency petition presented before the date of its execution, the defense of Melissa Lucio He narrated what happened on the fateful February 15, 2007 and in the following days.

That day, the mother woke up early, got some of her children ready for school, and then began to pack up things in her “dilapidated apartment on the second floor” because the family was in the process of moving.

Meanwhile, he did his best to keep an eye on Mariahwhat had difficulty walking and had a tendency to fall due to a mild physical disability. But while Pike I was busy, Mariah opened a door, walked out and fell down a “steep” flight of more than a dozen steps.

Lucio realized almost immediately that Mariah She had disappeared and he found her outside, crying. Her lip was bleeding, but she didn’t appear to be seriously injured.

But according to CNN, the girl’s appearance was deceptive, as She suffered internal injuries that would lead to her death..

Over the next two days, in the midst of the family move, the state of Mariah He got worse: he slept too much and finally refused to eat.

On February 17th, Lúcio wanted to take the girl to the doctor, but he preferred to wait until the next day and put the girl to bed. Mariah for him to take a nap.

But Mariah stopped breathing and the family called 911. The paramedics who arrived at the scene and later those at the hospital tried to revive her, but were unable to do so.

At home, Lúcio told the paramedics that Mariah had fallen down the stairs days before, but one of the lifeguards didn’t believe it, according to the request for mercy, because the residence was on the ground floor with some steps in front. The man did not understand, says the petition, that the girl had fallen in the family’s old home.

“This critical misunderstanding triggered a biased investigation in which investigators continually assumed the worst about Melissa without investigating or considering alternatives,” the petition says.

Melissa Lucio bows her head in prayer during a meeting with a bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers at the Gatesville Correctional Facility, Texas, on April 6, 2022. (Jeff Leach/State Rep. Jeff Leach/AFP). (JEFF LEACH/)

In August 2008, when she was convicted, the jury determined that Melissa Lucio there was “Beating and tortured” your daughter until death.

The coroner who evaluated the case in 2007 said that Mariah She was an “abused girl” who died of a traumatic brain injury.

According to CNN, the emergency room doctor who tried to revive Mariah after the family called 911 also said that It was the “worst” case of child abuse he had seen in his career and the injuries could not have been caused by a fall down the stairs.

But during interrogation the mother told the police that her daughter fell down the stairs and that caused her death. However, the prosecutor did not believe her version and accused her of murder and asked for the death penalty.

Prosecutors based part of their accusation on a supposed “confession” that Lúcio handed over to the authorities on the night of his death. Mariah.

Although, Lúcio’s lawyers denied that she had confessed. They said that your statement was coerced during an “aggressive” interrogation and that Pike was susceptible to coercion due to his history as a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic and psychological violence throughout his life, according to CNN.

The lawyers also added that the woman was not allowed to present evidence that would call into question the validity of her alleged confession.

The defense stated that false or unserious evidence led jurors to believe that Mariah They could have been caused simply by physical abuse and not by complications resulting from a fall.

“I knew that the accusations made against me were not true. My children have always been my world and although my decisions in life have not been good, I would never hurt any of my children in that way,” Lucio said in a letter to Texas lawmakers.

Cameron County Assistant Prosecutor Luis Saenz, whose office handled the case, responded that Lucio’s lawyers did not have the evidence to exonerate her. According to prosecutors, she had a history of drug use and temporarily lost custody of some of her 14 children.

Lucio family.

It is now known that The testimonies of Lúcio’s five children, who assured that their mother did not abuse them or Mariah, were not shared by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with the defense.. This is considered the main evidence in favor of the mother.

One of the children told an investigator at the Child protective services who saw the girl fall down the stairs of her apartment and corroborated the story of Pike about the girl’s injuries and deteriorating health in the days following the incident.

Furthermore, two of the oldest daughters of Pike They gave sworn statements to police corroborating details about Mariah’s deteriorating health and her mother’s growing concern in the days before her death.

After learning of this evidence, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Lúcio’s lawyers reached an agreement, which was approved by the judge. Nelsonwhich indicates that “she would not have been convicted in light of the suppressed evidence”according to court documents cited by CNN.

“We hope and pray that the Court of Criminal Appeals agrees with the District Attorney, the defense and Judge Nelson and our mother can return home to her family. We’ve been without it for 17 years. We love her and we miss her and we can’t wait to hug her,” her children said. Pike in a statement on Monday.

Source: Elcomercio