Melissa Lucio.Photo: Texas Department of Criminal Justice/AP/Shutterstock
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.
Prosecutors also have said Lucio confessed to hitting Mariah during her police interrogation. 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’s lawyers have said her history as a survivor of repeated sexual abuse and domestic violence made her especially vulnerable to coercive tactics. Lucio has always maintained her innocence.
The statement added: “Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren. I will use my time to help bring them to Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf.”
Lucio’s lawyers say this new evidence shows Mariah’s injuries resulted from a fall down the stairs two days prior to her death, which Lucio herself had told police about immediately following the child’s death, reportsThe New York Times. Lucio’s lawyers with the Innocence Projecthave saidMariah “had a mild physical disability that made her unstable while walking and prone to tripping.”
If Lucio is put to death, she would become the first Latina woman in Texas history to be executed. Her cause has garnered widespread support: Among her advocates areKim Kardashian,Amanda Knox, and even a bipartisan group of 80 Texas lawmakers — something especially notable in a state known for intense partisan divisions.
The Timesreports that during a hearing at the State Capitol in April, legislators urged Cameron County District Attorney Luis. V. Saenz, a Democrat, to withdraw the warrant for execution. But Saenz declined.
PEOPLE’s call to Saenz' office seeking comment after Monday’s ruling was not immediately returned.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Sandra Babcock, one of Ms. Lucio’s lawyers and the director of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, toldThe Times, “Police targeted Melissa because she didn’t fit their image of how a grieving mother should behave.”
Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at The Innocence Project,told CBSthat 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.”
Among Lucio’s supporters are five of the jurors who convicted her in the first place. One of those jurors, Johnny Galvan, Jr., wrote in a recent op-ed in theHouston Chronicle, “I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. If I could take back my vote, I would.”
source: people.com
