But this can be detrimental because "a lot of trauma symptoms look like these behavioral cues of lying," Guarnera said. They contend Mariah died from injuries from a fall down the 14 steps of a steep staircase outside the family's apartment in the South Texas city of Harlingen. [21] Lucio subsequently petitioned for clemency. And 30 groups that work on behalf of the Latinx community in Texas have said they support clemency, too. The application also states that the state medical examiner who performed Mariah's autopsy was told that Lucio admitted to abusing the girl and was accompanied by two of the interrogating officers during the autopsy. Mariah was crying but did not appear to have any serious injuries, Lucio said. Alexander Molony Children: Does Alexander Molony Have A Child? 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. Selina believes her mother is guilty. window.addEventListener('scroll', function() { 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. Selina, the fifth of Lucios 14 children, initially came forward on TikTok back in 2021 after the release of The State Of Texas vs. Melissa, a documentary on Hulu that covers the case and Lucios fight to have her conviction overturned. Her dad passed away when she was a baby so her family moved to the Rio Grande Valley where her mother grew up when she was still a little kid. She claimed that he was frequently physically abusive and drug and alcohol-dependent. Shortly after Mariah was born, Lucio tested positive for cocaine use; as a result, authorities decided to place her children in foster care. Guarnera said she believes a practice used by police in Europe, called the Peace model, would help people in situations similar to Lucio's. The husband of Melissa Lucio, Roberto Antonio Alvarez, is known to have testified in the case involving the death of his daughter, Mariah Alvarez. Press "Enter" or click on the arrow to show results. The Innocence Project notes that Lucio was pregnant with twins at the time and was likely overwhelmed and grief-stricken after Mariahs death. A woman facing execution in Texas for killing her daughter is seeking clemency, claiming she was coerced into confessing to the crime. Lucio says she regrets the confession and her advocates suggest that. "Do it real hard," he said. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter, Mariah Alvarez Autopsy In the U.S. state of Texas, Melissa Lucio is the first woman of Hispanic descent to receive a death sentence. After the death of her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, who had injuries to her head, contusions of the kidneys, lungs, and spinal cord, as well as scattered bruises that were in various stages of healing, she was found guilty of capital murder. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. Ms. Lucio received a death penalty sentence and is appealing. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. After several hours of interrogation, Lucio stated, "I guess I did it. [8] She admitted to having spanked Mariah, but denied ever having abused her, which she repeated more than 100 times. Advertisement : [emailprotected] 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). Selina claims that none of her other siblings were abusive towards Mariah. At Ms. Lucios trial, the medical examiner testified that the bruises and injuries on Mariahs body could only have been caused by abuse. Her husband and Mariah's father, Robert Alvarez, was sentenced to four years in prison for child endangerment. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Death Penalty Action started the Free Melissa Lucio project shortly after Lucio was notified of her execution date. During her interrogation, Ms. Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times, until she was manipulated into falsely taking responsibility for some of Mariahs injuries by police officers. An Innocence Project petition calling for a stop to Lucio's execution has surpassed its goal, having received over 185,000 signatures. Melissa Lucio was first sentenced to death in 2008 for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. So you respond to threats, you respond to violence, you respond to demands, you respond to the escalating voice by saying, 'Yes, yes, I'll do it,'" said Mindy Mechanic, a forensic psychologist and professor emeritus at California State University, Fullerton. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy Melissa Lucio is the first Hispanic woman to receive a death sentence in the state of Texas. At the time, Lucio said, the toddler didn't appear to be hurt, ABC News reported, citing court records. Prosecutors said that Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that her death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days prior. 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. tiktokscr.parentNode.insertBefore(jsTikTok, tiktokscr); In late 2006 Lucio got back the other kids after three older kids went to live with their father in Houston. Lucio said that Mariah had fallen down a steep staircase during the family's move to a new apartment two days prior, but did not appear seriously injured, according to court records. "And she was ashamed of what she did, and she had a hard time admitting to officers what had occurred. He continued by telling her, "We already know what happened". Minyvonne Burkeis a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. [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. "This is a woman who has a history of being threatened, being yelled at," she said. "She gets very emotional because no one believed her for so many years that she was innocent. While she was incarcerated, she gave birth to twins, making four total. Paramedics were called to the Lucio home on February 17, 2007, as two-year-old Mariah was not breathing and was unresponsive. Paramedics were called to Melissa Lucio's home in Harlingen, Texas, on Feb. 17, 2007, after her 2-year-old daughter Mariah Alvarez was found unresponsive and not breathing. Some of the children living with Lucio were previously taken from the home by Child Protective Services and placed into foster care when Mariah was three weeks old, in 2004. 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.". The local hospital declared the child dead. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. She started abusing only my sister, Mariah.. The trial court prohibited this testimony but allowed the Texas Ranger who coerced Ms. Lucios incriminating statement to testify, falsely, for the prosecution that Ms. Lucios slumped posture, passivity, and failure to make eye contact told him that she was guilty. 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. In their clemency petition, Lucio's 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. She wasn't a perfect mother, but she made sure we were taken care of," he said. Call Gov. FilmRise By Maurice Chammah The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. 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. If we had heard passionately from the defense defending her in some way, we might have reached a different decision," juror Johnny Galvan wrote in an affidavit. 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. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy - Melissa Lucio is the first Hispanic woman to receive a death sentence in the state of Texas. Isla Bryson Parents: Who Are The Parents Of Isla Bryson? [22], In April 2022, a juror on the trial, Johnny Galvan Jr., wrote in the Houston Chronicle that he had wrongly succumbed to peer pressure during deliberations and had changed his vote from a life sentence to the death penalty. var tiktokscr = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; 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. Photo courtesy of the family of Melissa Lucio via AP. According to documents filed in the Texas Criminal Court Of Appeals in 2011, the children were found in unsafe conditions with scratches and insect bites. I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. "[24], On April 25, 2022, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution and ordered the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County to consider new evidence of Lucio's innocence in the death of her daughter. Lucio's lawyers say the evidence shows it was a tragic accident. Unable to be resuscitated, her daughter was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The medical examiner also testified at trial that a mark on Mariahs body were bite marks. The little girl's mother, Melissa Lucio, claimed her daughter, Mariah Alvarez, had abrasions on her back and was covered in bruises because of a fall down a steep set of 14 steps two days earlier outside the family's new apartment. Child Protective Services had previously investigated Lucio for allegations of child neglect, and they reported that Lucio's youngest children were often left in the care of their teenaged siblings. Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. . In the similar case of Manuel Velez, a man who was initially convicted for murdering a one-year-old baby and whose death sentence was overturned after further investigation, Farley's conclusions had also been contradicted by other medical experts. Later on, Lucio had seven children with Robert 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. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Keller, P.J., joined except for points 4 and 11, in which she concurs. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. 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. "And we intend on keeping that promise.". Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. She also spoke in one of her sisters TikToks and claimed that blame was placed on her in an attempt to free Lucio. Help us advocate for the innocent by sharing the latest news from the Innocence Project. Lucio received the death penalty for the death of Mariah. Were they convicted? [9][23] The Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Esteban Moctezuma, announced on April 22 that he sent a letter to Governor Abbott asking him to grant executive clemency to Lucio, as "Mexico has historically manifested an unwavering commitment in its opposition to the death penalty. Ms. Lucio has maintained her innocence on death row for more than 14 years. "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. On Feb. 8, attorneys for Ms. Lucio filed a motion to withdraw or modify her looming execution date, and on March 22, her legal team filed a petition for clemency to the governor and Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. She was interrogated for five hours by armed police officers who reportedly berated her. Lucio was married at the age of 16 and had her first five children with Guadalupe Lucio. 27, 2022 for the 2007 death of Mariah. I dont want her to be executed, she says. Experts said these conditions are all risk factors that make a person more likely to falsely confess. I'm responsible. Without that context, the jury was undoubtedly swayed by Ms. Lucios statement and the Texas Rangers testimony about her demeanor during the interrogation. New evidence suggests the death may have been an accident - and today, the Texas Board of Pardons . According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. My moms sisters said that she would get a lesser sentence if we said we abused my sister, Selina adds. 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. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is set to be executed on April 27. Police contaminate the persons statement meaning they feed the innocent person crime facts or a specific narrative of guilt. Calls are growing for Texas to stop the approaching execution of Melissa Lucio, who says she was wrongfully convicted of killing her toddler Mariah in 2007. A spokeswoman for Abbott's office did not return an email seeking comment. At the time, Mr. Villalobos was seeking re-election, and came under fire for failing to thoroughly investigate or prosecute more than 100 previous allegations of child abuse. Abbott's office, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles did not immediately respond to ABC News' requests for comment. said, adding that an emergency room doctor said it was the "absolute worst" case of child abuse. [3] Lucio says she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend for about two years, beginning when she was seven years old. Isla Bryson Husband: Is Isla Bryson Married? Child Protective Services had previously investigated Lucio for allegations of child neglect, and they reported that Lucio's youngest children were often left in the care of their teenaged siblings. Mariah Alvarez, daughter of Melissa Lucio, was a young little girl who lost her life at a very young age. RELATED: Rumors Swirl That Kim Kardashian May Eventually Run For Office What A Kardashian Presidency Could Look Like. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. [4] As of 2022, Lucio is being held on death row[14] at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Michelle Lucio, John's wife who knew Melissa Lucio prior to her conviction, recalled the conversations with her during their visits in prison. Instead, those fighting for Lucio to be granted clemency claim she is a survivor of child physical and sexual abuse who was coerced into confessing to Mariahs murder. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Abbott can grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve. The Innocence Project is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. } Ms. Lucio is a survivor of life-long, repeated sexual assault and domestic violence. Her lawyers say Lucio's sentence was disproportionate to what her husband and Mariah's father, Robert Alvarez, received. 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. Mariah was the twelfth child of Lucio. Liliana Segura, Jordan Smith. See additional information. They found out that Mariahs arm had been broken two to seven weeks before she died. "I was not gonna admit to causing her death because I wasn't responsible," Lucio said. Now, are you a cold-blooded killer or were you a frustrated mother who just took it out on [Mariah]?" 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. Andy Griffiths, a former senior investigating officer with the U.K. police, wrote in a 2012 article that the Peace model trains officers to focus on "probing a suspect's account" instead of trying to force a confession. hide caption. However, Ms. Lucios husband perpetuated the cycle of abuse. "We've had her interrogation reviewed by leading experts in interrogation and false confessions. I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio," said state Rep. Jeff Leach, who signed the letter. Hours after Mariah's death, Lucio was interrogated by police for over five hours, according to her lawyers. [4], Mariah Alvarez was born to Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez in September 2004. "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. The interrogating officers refused to hear the truth: that Melissa did not, and would not, ever hurt her children. What we know today which we didnt know 15 years ago is that survivors of significant trauma and domestic abuse, like Ms. Lucio, are particularly vulnerable to the coercive police interrogation that Ms. Lucio endured for over five hours. 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. The only person who abused my sister was my mother, Melissa Lucio, she claims in another video. 2023byTango Publishing Corporation All Rights Reserved. And experts who have reviewed Ms. Lucios case, including her interrogation records, have concluded that Ms. Lucio was relentlessly pressured and extensively manipulated during the interrogation. At 6 years old, she was sexually assaulted by one of her mother's partners, her legal team said in the clemency petition. Bite mark analysis has been. According to Dr. Young, Melissa Lucio should not be executed because he believes she is innocent. According to The Marshall Project, Crain, who maintains her innocence, wrote that she had flashbacks to her abusive husband when she was being yelled at by a detective. Ahead of the election, Mr. Villalobos sought to make an example in Ms. Lucios case, which helped him appear tough on crime. Today, the former district attorney is serving a 13-year federal prison sentence for bribery and extortion. Melissa Lucio holds her daughter Mariah. Did OJ Simpson's Son Jason Kill Nicole Brown & Ron Goldman? She had many bruises bite marks on her back patches of hair pulled out and a broken arm. Melissa Lucios husband Roberto Antonio Alvarez testified in the case about the death of his daughter Mariah Alvarez. They were returned to Lucio three months before Mariahs death. Convicted of murdering one of her 9 children, her 2 year old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. He is now serving a 13-year federal prison sentence for bribery and extortion. Melissa Lucio was born in Lubbock, Texas,[2] on June 18, 1969, according to court records. [1][19], In August 2021, an amicus brief was filed on Lucio's behalf by a group consisting of legal scholars, experts on violence against women, and representatives from sixteen organizations that combat violence against women. Melissa Lucio's daughter Mariah Alvarez's autopsy photos got released earlier, and the results are unconvincing to experts like Dr. Thomas Young. The toddler had a mild physical disability that made her unstable while walking and prone to tripping. Paramedics were called and Lucio was quickly taken in for questioning about the death of her youngest child. On April 12, attorneys for Melissa filed a supplemental clemency application including a new declaration from a fifth juror Melissas jury foreperson who joins the calls of four other jurors and the alternate to halt Melissas pending execution or grant her a new trial where new evidence of her innocence can be considered. The State of Texas has scheduled Ms. Lucios execution for April 27, for a crime that never occurred. In a March 2022 letter to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and to Governor Abbott, eighty-three members of the Texas House of Representatives, including both Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter stating that executing Lucio would be "a miscarriage of justice". Melissa , a documentary set to be released in 2020, is based on her case. Detectives by law are also not allowed to lie to suspects. It stated that Lucio, who was pregnant with twins, was questioned by two armed detectives for more than five hours. While she was in prison she gave birth to twins which made a total of four children. April 17 2022, 4:00 a.m. "Free Melissa . He then told Lucio that he would "help" her if she told him what he already knew. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. "Our campaign is called Free Melissa Lucio because we don't want to just save her, we want her out," Bonowitz said. "Lucio still advances no evidence that is reliable and supportive of her acquittal," the office wrote in court documents last month. 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. She allegedly suffered abuse by multiple partners that continued throughout her teenage years and into adulthood. Thank you for visiting us. Melissa Lucio Mariahs mother was found guilty of capital murder. 03/23/2022 by Anne Tyler Melissa Lucio, a middle-aged mother, was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her two-year-old son. Research has shown that survivors of sexual abuse and violence, like Ms. Lucio, are even more vulnerable to. "https:" : "http:") + '//www.tiktok.com/embed.js'; Her execution is set to take place on April 27. Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from the Innocence Project: Ms. Lucio is facing execution on April 27 for a crime that never occurred. Ms. Lucio struggled at times to provide for her family, but was a caring mother, who did her best given her incredibly difficult circumstances. But Ms. Lucios life is still in jeopardy. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Lucio is seeking clemency as her April 27 execution date approaches. Shanda Crain, who was convicted of killing her parents in 1995 in Washington Parish, Louisiana, said in an academic paper that she found similarities between her case and Lucio's. The omission of this crucial evidence was particularly damaging because the prosecution had a weak case for capital murder, and an even weaker case for a death sentence. In shock and grieving the loss of her baby the youngest of her 12 children at the time Ms. Lucio was taken into police custody and immediately blamed for her daughters death. Greg Abbott and other elected officials to stop her execution. In the 2020 documentary "The State of Texas vs. Melissa," Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah. Lucio also has a lower-than-average IQ. "[20], In January 2022, Cameron County officials signed an execution warrant for Lucio. Mariah fell down a flight of stairs while the family was moving homes on Feb. 15, 2007. She is scheduled to be executed by. 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. 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. At the time of her death, Mariah was healing from an injury to her arm, which the medical examiner also said was a sign of abuse. Mariah Alvarez: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy Viral on Twitter & Reddit. 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