The state responsible for the most death row executions in America since 1976. . Melissa's daughter Alexandra Lucio appears in documentary. But it is the story that involved Melissa Lucio, who murdered her daughter over the course of several years of abuse has generated more controversy than any other case. The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. The South Texas mother of 14 is on. 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. On April 27, Texas plans to put Lucio to death by lethal injection for her daughters murder. In an interview with the Texas Observer, Tivon Schardl, a lawyer on Lucios appellate defense team, called her case as clear a case of injustice as youll ever see. Melissa Lucio faces imminent execution for a capital murder that never happened, Schardl said. A DEATH row inmate was convicted on a coerced confession during a five-hour interrogation and false medical testimonies, her lawyer said. 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. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of. We will fight not only to prevent Melissas execution but also to win her exoneration of these false charges.. At the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, she took a university class called Law and Feminism, and she began studying the psychology of confessions. Is Zozofit Scam or Legit? Im responsible for it. When Escalon later asked her about specific bruises on her daughters body, Lucio said, I guess I did it. 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. Escalon is now a senior official at the Texas Department of Public Safety, where a spokesman declined to make him available for an interview. The child was in a very serious condition, but she died a few hours later. All I was thinking was I need to get out of here. But Lucio's lawyers contend Mariah's death was an accident caused by falling down the stairs and not a crime. In the absence of his expert opinion, the jury was apt to conclude as the State clearly hoped it would that her lack of visible emotion was a sign of cold indifference to her childs death.. A fifth juror, who was an alternate during the case, also supported relief. The district attorney who prosecuted Lucios case, Armando Villalobos, is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence imposed in 2014 for bribery and extortion. 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. She responded with: I dont know what you want me to say. 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. 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. A Cameron County jury found Lucio guilty in the beating death of her two-year-old daughter Mariah, [] Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted her a stay of execution. Around 3 a.m., Escalon handed Lucio the doll, showing her the locations of the bruises and asking her to hit those spots. Lucio suffered a lifetime of sexual abuse and domestic violence, "which made her especially vulnerable to the polices coercive interrogation tactics," Potkin said. "They showed her pictures of her dead child, screamed at her, and called her a bad mother," Potkin said. Twitter ", 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. The clemency application included a new forensic analysis that contradicts a physician's testimony that said it was "the absolute worst" case of child abuse he's ever seen in 36 years of practice. Trauma victims often experience psychological reactions that make them look guilty, even when they are not, they wrote. 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. Her lawyers say new evidence shows that the cause of her daughter's injuries and subsequent death were caused by a fall down a steep staircase outside their apartment in Harlingen, Texas. Your email address will not be published. FilmRise By Maurice Chammah The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. April 28, 2022 5:23 PM EDT. Do it real hard, he said. Melissa Lucio is facing the death penalty for the murder of her six-year-old daughter. MELISSA ELIZABETH LUCIO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS ON DIRECT APPEAL. In 2008 a Cameron County jury found Lucio guilty on one count of capital murder for causing the death of daughter, Mariah Alvarez. A psychologist wrote in a report that Lucio showed a consistent pattern of psychological numbing often identified with victims of violence and abuse. Both testified when the jury was deciding Lucios punishment. "We ask you not to tear those wounds open again. And executing an innocent person would violate the Eighth and 14th Amendments, her rights to due process and amount to cruel and unusual punishment, it says. Typically, Republicans have been hesitant or reluctant to talk about the question of the integrity of the death penalty, and I think thats the wrong approach. Her body was discovered in a trash bin at their home. Maurice Chammah Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter Mariah. Lucios second claim the trial court will review argues the previously unavailable scientific evidence would have prevented a jury from finding Lucio guilty. But two days before that, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted her a stay of execution, delaying her death so Lucios trial court can explore whether she should receive a new trial. 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. The trial court barred Pinkerman from testifying during the culpability phase of Lucios trial, asserting that his testimony was irrelevant because Lucio had denied ever having anything to do with the killing of the child. They also denied the testimony of social worker Norma Villanueva during the culpability phase of Lucios trial they were only allowed to testify at her penalty phase, after she had been convicted. The autopsy showed Mariah had a blood coagulation disorder caused by the fall, which caused the bruising, Potkin said. But as new details have emerged about her case . Although she seemed mostly. "The river is supposed to flow one way; the suspect to police.". Lucio was in the process of moving when Mariah got through a screen door and fell down the stairs, Potkin said. 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. But after hours of questioning, they say, she parroted back the language suggested to her by interrogators and then demonstrated the alleged abuse on a doll at interrogators instruction, the habeas application says. "I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence," she said in a statement released Monday by the Innocence Project. Death Penalty Information Center | 1701 K Street NW Suite 205 Washington, DC 20006, Phone: 202-289-2275 | Email: [emailprotected], Privacy Policy | 2023 Death Penalty Information Center, Execution date set for Harlingen mom for murdering daughter, Harlingen woman faces April execution for daughters. Melissa Lucio could not hide her joy in court and proclaimed that she loves her late daughter Mariah. 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. An April 27 execution date has been scheduled for a Harlingen mom sitting on death row. But experts say the small number who are sentenced to death usually break societys expectations of a good woman, Rachel Sharp reports. Texas after being convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter, Mariah. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter but Lucio has long denied that, saying Mariah died from. Right there and then, I knew she did something, he later testified. A few days later, Melissa's boyfriend took her to a hospital to show them her daughter's corpse. European nations, a juror, Kim Kardashian, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are among those pleading for Lucios life. 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. Researchers say the risk of a false confession applies not only to traumatized kids, but also to adult victims of domestic violence. Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, A nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Her supporters say she was . Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age six, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. The photographs are gruesome and heart breaking but they also provide important evidence of the abuse that Sophia Lucio suffered before her death, highlighting the tragedy of Melissas actions and the physical trauma inflicted on Sophia by her own mother. "I thank God for my life. But theyre optimistic: Mondays ruling opens the door to the potential of a new trial, said Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, and ultimately, complete vindication.. The creators identity is still unknown to the public. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in 2008 after she was convicted of killing her two-year-old child Mariah one year earlier. 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. 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. This website provides easy access to different sporting events all around the world. This husband, according to her lawyers, raped, beat and choked her. But Ms. Lucio and her family never got to mourn the loss of her youngest daughter because, within hours of her passing, they were swept up into a nightmare that has lasted more than 14 years and torn their family apart. Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Uta,h and Wyoming. Many family members and supporters say. After Greens trial, Walker enlisted her graduate students at Nova Southeastern University in Florida to collect cases of women who, according to their court appeals, may have falsely confessed. Greg Abbott, whose office declined to comment. This undated handout photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Melissa Lucio. This testimony has since been proven scientifically baseless and false, Lucios habeas application says. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. Occasionally, law enforcement will detect that a woman suspected of a crime is afraid of an abuser. But as new details have emerged about her case . Did you encounter any technical issues? Hopefully the message is, we should not be denying possibly innocent people their day in court, the Death Penalty Information Center director said. She admitted to hitting her daughter I just did it, she said at one point but not to killing her. Melissa Lucio holds her. Thats the way its been set up for years and years. One week from today, Texas plans to execute Melissa Lucio for the death of her daughter, despite widespread concern she is innocent. 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. One of Lucios lawyers, Tivon Schardl, told The Marshall Project that the detectives tried to gaslight Lucio by telling her that she was the only person whod been alone with her daughter. In this article, we will take an in-depth look at the site and give you our honest review. During the interrogation, Lucio. In their clemency petition, Lucios lawyers say that while she had used drugs, leading her to temporarily lose custody of her children, she was a loving mother who worked to remain drug-free and provide for her family. They found 80. Lawyers for Lucio, who has denied she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter are hopeful new evidence will stop her execution on April 27. One of the jurors who sentenced Melissa Lucio to death has written a newspaper editorial claiming he was misled and pressured during the mother's trial for murdering her two-year-old daughter . V. Saenz, a Democrat, to withdraw the warrant for execution. In the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah. The state says Lucio beat her daughter to death. A Texas woman on death row after her controversial murder conviction in her daughter's death was granted a stay of execution today, and a lower court was ordered to consider new evidence in her case, her attorneys with the Innocence Project announced. In the 1970s, forensic psychologist Lenore Walker published The Battered Woman, a study that described how abusive relationships can follow a cycle of violence. She began testifying in court, sometimes on behalf of women who were accused of killing their abusers. Lucio was sentenced in 2008 for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, one of Lucio's 14 children. Lucio a new trial a rarity for a circuit court that had overturned only one of 150 Texas capital convictions or death sentences imposed after 2000. An autopsy revealed that Sophia had suffered multiple injuries consistent with blunt force trauma, including skull fractures, brain hemorrhages and other internal damage. It's like Cameron County prosecutor Alfredo Padilla said "the decision was based on evidence and evidence alone". Many object to the inconsistency with which the US death penalty is applied across the country. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. According to the original indictment filed in 2007, Lucio's daughter has bruises all over her body, bite marks on her back, and a broken armed that healed two to seven weeks before her death. The mother of 14, her family and attorneys say she was wrongfully convicted in her toddler Mariahs death. Lucio has repeatedly claimed her daughter wandered out of the home, bought misplaced, and was killed by an automobile that drove by whereas she was looking for her. Her daughter's physique was present in a trash can at their house. She passed away due to the abuse her mother suffered. Worn down by her grief and abuse throughout her life, Lucio admitted to a crime she didnt commit during the aggressive interrogation, her lawyers say. American death map: Which US states have capital punishment and who uses it the most? In this April 6, 2022 photo provided by Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, leads a group of seven Texas lawmakers in prayer in a room at the . Here's what we know. There are growing calls on Texas Governor Greg Abbot to grant clemency to Melissa Lucio who faces execution later this month. With this evidence in mind, four jurors said they have "grave concerns" about evidence withheld from them during the trial and would support relief, according to the clemency application. Greg Abbott, who have to give a recommendation for clemency and approve the application, respectively. Please allow us to reconcile with Mariahs death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish, and grief. 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. The prosecution characterized Lucios interrogation as evidence that she had abused her daughter, and therefore must have killed her. She is scheduled to be executed April 27, 2022. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Latest developments in Melissa Lucio case, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Prosecutors at Lucios 2008 trial alleged that she beat her daughter Mariah to death, but Lucios lawyers contested the cause of death and presented expert testimony from a neurosurgeon that Mariah may instead have died from head trauma caused by falling down a flight of stairs. Child Protective Services was present in the familys life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, according to Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucios attorneys who is with the Innocence Project. Lucio had already spent five hours that night, in February 2007, answering questions about the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. 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. Lucio is the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death row in Texas. The wounds never fully healed. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday halted the scheduled Wednesday execution of Melissa Lucio, whose death sentence has drawn international outcry as more people come to doubt her. "The State of Texas vs. Melissa," a Hulu documentary on the case. Prosecutors also have said Lucio confessed to hitting Mariah during her police interrogation. She didn't have visible injuries except for a few minor scrapes, according to Potkin, but two days later Mariah was sleepy and lethargic. Only 17 women have been executed in the US since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976, most recently in January 2021. 2. Mariah Alvarez was the 2-years old daughter of Melissa Lucio. For years, Ms Lucio's supporters . But in the interrogation room, it means getting out of the room by any means necessary and the only way out is confession.. 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. Greg Abbott to either grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. This error code is the bane of many EDD users and can prevent them from using certain features on the EDD platform. 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