"Do it real hard," he said. Melissa Lucio Mariahs mother was found guilty of capital murder. Many people accept that Lucio's case is a reasonable case of treason, while others accept that she deserved the sanctions. She also spoke in one of her sisters TikToks and claimed that blame was placed on her in an attempt to free Lucio. "We promised #MelissaLucio and her family we'd do everything we can do to prevent this irreversible injustice from taking place later this month,"Leach wrote Thursday on Twitter. Alexander Molony Net Worth: How Much Is Alexander Molony Worth? All she had was us," she said. A mitigation specialist at trial named Norma Villanueva claims that Alexandra admitted during a family meeting in June 2008 that she was the reason Mariah fell down the stairs.. 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. 03/23/2022 by Anne Tyler Melissa Lucio, a middle-aged mother, was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her two-year-old son. Ms. Lucio received a death penalty sentence and is appealing. 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. Lucio then had seven children with Robert Alvarez. By way of history, Mr. Alvarez found his daughter pale and not breathing in the family home and attempted to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation until EMS arrived. It was later discovered that Mariahs arm had been broken two to seven weeks prior to her passing away. All Rights Reserved. hide caption. Lucio, born in Lubbock, Texas, endured years of abuse and violence, according to her attorneys. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession. 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. Keep up with her Twitter for more. Eighty-three Texas legislators from both sides of the aisle have signed a letter urging the governor and Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles to grant Ms. Lucio clemency. RELATED: Rumors Swirl That Kim Kardashian May Eventually Run For Office What A Kardashian Presidency Could Look Like. [1] Lucio's execution was set for April 27, 2022, but an appeals court granted her a stay on April 25, 2022. }); The content produced by YourTango is for informational and educational purposes only. Courtesy of the family of Melissa Lucio via AP, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As her April 27 execution date nears, Lucio's lawyers are hopeful that new evidence, along with growing public support including from jurors who now doubt the conviction and from more than half the Texas House of Representatives will persuade the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. They used coercive methods known to produce false confessions. She was especially vulnerable, her lawyers say, as she was grieving for her daughter, pregnant with twins at the time, and a victim of abuse and trauma throughout her life. As indicated by legal counsel at the Lucio Reassessment Watch group, Melissa is not at fault. According to Bonowitz, factors like ableism and racial and socioeconomic bias in the criminal justice system pose too much of a threat to warrant the use of the death penalty. Lucio that her teenage daughter, Alexandra, may have been responsible for the bruises found on Mariahs body after her death. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of losing her daughter Mariah, her lawyers say, the Texas woman finally acquiesced to investigators. Research has shown that survivors of sexual abuse and violence, like Ms. Lucio, are even more vulnerable to falsely confessing under such coercive conditions. While Lucios attorneys contend that Mariahs death was brought on by a fall down the stairs two days earlier, prosecutors contend that Mariahs injuries were caused by physical abuse. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of. On April 15, Ms. Lucios attorneys filed a habeas petition with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals seeking a stay of her execution and arguing that she deserves a new trial because she is innocent and the State relied on false evidence,and hid favorable evidence, to convict her. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. She was scheduled for execution on April 27, 2022. The Texas Rangers did not respond to repeated phone calls and emails for comment about the case. But Ms. Lucios life is still in jeopardy. The Texas Attorney General's Office maintains evidence shows Mariah suffered the "absolute worst" case of child abuse her emergency room doctor had seen in 30 years. If I could take back my vote, I would, Johnny Galvan Jr., one of the jurors in Ms. Lucios case, wrote in a recent op-ed in the Houston Chronicle. Lucio told police Mariah fell asleep and did not wake up. An appeals court opinion detailed how an investigator said he "knew she did something" because of her demeanor. The Innocence Project is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. The board plans to vote on Lucio's clemency petition two days before the scheduled execution, Rachel Alderete, the board's director of support operations, said in an email. He can grant clemency if a majority of the paroles board recommends it. In the documentary, Alexandra does not recall these alleged confessions. 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. [21] Lucio subsequently petitioned for clemency. That's what crossed my mind. According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. The Free Melissa Lucio project has worked closely with John Lucio, Melissa Lucio's eldest son, as he advocates for his mother's exoneration. At 16, she became a child bride to escape. Hours after Mariah's death, Lucio was interrogated by police for over five hours, according to her lawyers. Selina believes her mother is guilty. Lucio was convicted in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and sentenced to be executed. And they found that her statements are completely unreliable, that they're a mere regurgitation of the words that the officers were feeding to her over the course of five hours," Potkin said. Lucios lawyers say that Mariahs death was due to falling down the stairs but prosecutors say that Mariahs injuries were from someone hitting or hurting her. "Interrogation is also a very cognitively demanding task so you need to be listening, you need to be parsing the truth and falsity of the information, you need to be thinking about your future options and consequences.". At 6 years old, she was sexually assaulted by one of her mother's partners, her legal team said in the clemency petition. I'm responsible. After the trial, in which the prosecution said that her daughter's injuries could have only been caused by abuse, Lucio was found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to death. In a 2010 affidavit, one of Lucios sisters claimed to remember a different conversation in which Alexandra admitted to punching Mariah out of resentment for having to care for her while Lucio and her husband did drugs. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. var tiktokscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; . var isYTTikTok = 1; In this case, Melissa Lucio, Mariahs mother, was found guilty of capital murder. Lucy Guarnera, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who studies false confessions, said law enforcement often uses "behavioral lie detection" techniques that look at a person's actions to predetermine innocence or guilt. Still a minor and unable to leave the abusive marriage, Ms. Lucio was trapped and developed a substance use problem. Lucio claims that starting when she was seven years old, her mothers boyfriend sexually abused her for approximately two years. She had scattered bruising, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm. IE 11 is not supported. Following Mariah's death, Lucio was arrested and questioned for seven hours by Texas Ranger Victor Escalon without a lawyer present, and without receiving food or water. I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. MELISSA ELIZABETH LUCIO, Appellant v. THE STATE OF TEXAS ON DIRECT APPEAL CAUSE NUMBER 07-CR-885-B IN THE 138TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT CAMERON COUNTY Hervey, J., delivered the opinion of the Court in which Meyers, Johnson, Keasler, Cochran, and alcala, JJ., joined. No physical evidence showed otherwise. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Lucio's conviction, ruling she was deprived of "her constitutional right to present a meaningful defense." Ms. Lucio had nine more children, including Mariah. The parole board was scheduled to vote on Lucio's clemency petition two days before the execution. The district attorney's office said in a statement to the Brownsville Herald that Mariah had been "severely beaten," had "bruises in various states of healing covering her body" and had missing portions of her hair. However, pathologists who have reviewed the evidence have concluded that this testimony was false. Studies have shown that even trained forensic dentists cant agree whether or not an injury is a bite mark. Lucio, who is an inmate on Texas death row, is set to be executed on Apr. Greg Abbott and other elected officials to stop her execution. [4] As of 2022, Lucio is being held on death row[14] at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. It played at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020, and won best documentary at the Raindance Film Festival. Unprecedented pictures of Melissa Lucio 's examination have surfaced because of the absence of life column prisoner inside the narrative " Death by Mama" airs on ABC. "The ask is very specific. Mariah was the twelfth child of Lucio. After nearly 15 years on death row in Texas, Lucio was granted a stay of her scheduled . Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Later on, Lucio had seven children with Robert Alvarez. Two of the officers who interrogated Ms. Lucio were present at Mariahs autopsy, leading to a biased autopsy process, and an incomplete investigation into Mariahs health history and causes of her injuries and death. Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age 6, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. Grants Clemency To Julius Jones Hours Before Scheduled Execution Amid Public Pressure, She also claims three of her older siblings, 5 Death Penalty Facts That Will Make You Want To Abolish It Now, Man Refuses To Let His Friend's Service Dog Over To His House Because He's 'Not A Dog Person', Woman Claims Uber Driver 'Sighed' And 'Complained' About Having To Load Her Wheelchair Into His Car, Pedro Pascale Fans Rediscover His Camp Character In 90s Hit Show Undressed & Cant Get Enough Of It, Rumors Swirl That Kim Kardashian May Eventually Run For Office What A Kardashian Presidency Could Look Like. On April 15, Ms. Lucios. Email: [emailprotected] Mariahs autopsy showed signs of a blood coagulation disorder, which causes profuse bruising throughout the body. "People generally confess falsely to get out of the interrogation room," Guarnera said. Hundreds of anti-domestic violence/sexual assault organizations and 18 Texas exonerees have voiced support for clemency for Ms. Lucio. Her father died when she was an infant, and the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where her mother had grown up, when she was a toddler. However, Ms. Lucios husband perpetuated the cycle of abuse. As two experts on false confessions have determined, due to the officers tactics and Ms. Lucios vulnerability, her incriminating statements are not a reliable confession of her guilt, but rather are a regurgitation of information relayed to her from investigators throughout the interrogation.Lucio Successor Writ Application, at 136 (quoting David Thompsons Expert Report). Melissa Lucios husband Roberto Antonio Alvarez testified in the case about the death of his daughter Mariah Alvarez. Two more children (twins) were born while she was imprisoned. Ms. Lucio has maintained her innocence on death row for more than 14 years. Isla Bryson Husband: Is Isla Bryson Married? 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. But this can be detrimental because "a lot of trauma symptoms look like these behavioral cues of lying," Guarnera said. The project's petition, asking Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz to rescind the execution, has received over 44,000 signatures. Lawyers for Lucio deny those claims and say the bruising was a result of the fall. "I don't want to be in that room on April 27 to see her get executed," Michelle Lucio said. At Ms. Lucios trial, the medical examiner testified that the bruises and injuries on Mariahs body could only have been caused by abuse. Melissa Lucio holds her daughter Mariah. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.tiktok.com/embed.js'; the youngest of her 12 children at the time Ms. Lucio was taken into police custody and immediately blamed for her daughters death. Paramedics were called to the Lucio home on February 17, 2007, as two-year-old Mariah was not breathing and was unresponsive. ET:This article has been updated to reflect the latest news in this case. The local hospital said the child had passed away. Prosecutors, however, painted a different picture. 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. Many family members and supporters say the girl's . During the interrogation, Lucio claimed her innocence over 100 times before eventually saying, I guess I did it, when asked if she was responsible for Mariahs injuries. Guadalupe Lucio and Melissa Lucio had their first five children together when they were just 16 years old. [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. "I think there's this thought or belief that if we give up the accusatory, guilt-presumptive, coercive style of American interrogations, it'll have bad consequences and we won't be able to convict people," she said. As the interrogation dragged on, Lucio told detectives that she had hit Mariah in the past, but did not say she killed the little girl. Lawyers in Melissa Lucio case request retrial, push for death sentence to be dropped, Rangers believed Lucio had killed Mariah on Feb. 17, 2007, fighting to stop her April 27 execution date, published report on interviewing domestic violence victims. isYTTikTok = 0; [27] On April 17, 2022, in the main segment of another episode, called "Police Interrogations", Lucio's case was mentioned again as having every hallmark of a false confession.[28]. When she was a toddler, the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where her mother had grown up, after her father passed away when she was still an infant. "She was not evil. According to Dr. Young, Melissa Lucio should not be executed because he believes she is innocent. Selina says that Lucio was, not abusive to all of us. Mariah Alvarez: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy Viral on Twitter & Reddit. Please spare the life of our mother," Lucio's children wrote in a letter to Abbott and the board. "What am I going to say? 2023byTango Publishing Corporation All Rights Reserved. Officers used powerfully manipulative techniques many of which rise to the level of risk factors for false confession to coerce Ms. Lucio to incriminate herself. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. In the Hulu documentary, Melissa Lucio implies that her daughter Alexandra was responsible for Mariah's death. jsTikTok.src = (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? Updated on April 18, 2022, 7:30 p.m. Lucio was convicted for the death of her daughter Mariah Alvarez. 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. Instead of taking the steps to learn about Mariahs health history and investigating the causes of her injuries, authorities immediately jumped to the conclusion that she had been murdered and, through a coercive interrogation, pressured Ms. Lucio to make a false statement. 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. 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. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy - Melissa Lucio is the first Hispanic woman to receive a death sentence in the state of Texas. [17] This decision was subsequently overturned in an en banc hearing of the same court[18] and Lucio remained on death row. 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. As a result, she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation, according to her legal team. Abbott has granted clemency to only one death row inmate, Thomas Whitaker, since taking office in 2015. Ms. Lucio struggled at times to provide for her family, but was a caring mother, who did her best given her incredibly difficult circumstances. Melissa Elizabeth Lucio, Texas. Abbott must undertake a meaningful review of Ms. Lucios innocence claim, the coercive tactics used in her interrogation, and the tragic circumstances of Mariahs accidental death, before an irreversible injustice occurs. Bite mark analysis has been wholly discredited since Ms. Lucios trial because it has no scientific basis. Police contaminate the persons statement meaning they feed the innocent person crime facts or a specific narrative of guilt. So right there and then, I knew she did something," he said. Isla Bryson Children: Does Isla Bryson Have Children. Nearly all proven false confession cases have the following three things in common: As soon as police officers encountered Ms. Lucio, they misclassified her response to the grief and shock of her daughters death as indicative of guilt. Ms. Lucio got the death penalty but shes asking for a chance to appeal. Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. Studies have shown that even trained forensic dentists cant agree whether or not an injury is a bite mark. "The Innocence Project recognized the urgency that an innocent woman was headed for execution," Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation for the organization, told ABC News. Trauma victims who dissociate may not fully grasp the severity of the situation they are in so "they're not going to be able to track and pay attention as carefully and this can make you potentially prone to accepting suggestions from officers," Guarnera said. Keller, P.J., joined except for points 4 and 11, in which she concurs. 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". Paramedics were called and Lucio was quickly taken in for questioning about the death of her youngest child. I believe that she should be in prison. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. The Office of Justice Programs, an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice that focuses on crime prevention through research and development, said in a published report on interviewing domestic violence victims that detectives should "give credibility to the victim without expecting a high level of cooperation.". window.addEventListener('scroll', function() { Thousands of pages of Child Protective Services records show that Ms. Lucios 12 children never said she was violent with them and no case workers noted signs of abuse. The woman, Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14, was found guilty back in 2008 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. The medical examiner also testified at trial that a mark on Mariahs body were bite marks. Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. On Feb. 8, attorneys for Ms. Lucio, to withdraw or modify her looming execution date, and on March 22, her legal team, to the governor and Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. CPS records used in the trial do not evidence that suggests Lucio was abusive. 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.". Child Protective Services was present in the family's life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, Potkin said. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Here are 5 things to . Melissa Lucio was found guilty of a very serious crime called capital murder. Lucio Successor Writ Application, at 136 (quoting David Thompsons Expert Report). "Please allow us to reconcile with Mariah's death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish and grief. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Potkin said Lucio's presumed guilt "was a complete rush to judgment" spurred on by misunderstanding, a "highly manipulative and coercive" interrogation and faulty forensics. [14], Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Young, the former chief medical examiner in Kansas City, Missouri, reviewed the case at the request of Lucio's post-conviction attorney. "She gets very emotional because no one believed her for so many years that she was innocent. Her young daughter Mariah died and had many injuries like bruises on her head kidneys lungs spinal cord and other places. Grants Clemency To Julius Jones Hours Before Scheduled Execution Amid Public Pressure. 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. I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. Our website services, content and products are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. A woman facing execution in Texas for killing her daughter is seeking clemency, claiming she was coerced into confessing to the crime. At Ms. Lucios trial, the medical examiner testified that the bruises and injuries on Mariahs body could only have been caused by abuse. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas after she confessed to beating her 2-year-old daughter, who later died. Web: www.ghgossip.com, About Us Contact Advertise Privacy Policy, Get To Know Neil Wagner: Biography, Age, Career, Net Worth, Height, Relationship & More. Forensic dentists cant agree whether or not an injury is a bite mark of Law, Yeshiva University over... By Anne Tyler Melissa Lucio via AP, Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information a specific narrative guilt. 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