Overturn mother’s death sentence
In the court of public opinion, there is widespread agreement that Melissa Lucio was wrongfully convicted in 2008 for the death of her toddler and that her placement on death row is a miscarriage of justice.
On Friday, that agreement took an enormous formal step forward in the legal system. State District Judge Arturo Nelson, who presided over Lucio’s trial, agreed that Cameron County prosecutors withheld critical evidence.
This follows the Cameron County district attorney and Lucio’s attorneys co-signing filings that crucial evidence was suppressed. Nelson recommended that Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be overturned, referring the matter back to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which we urge to act with haste.
For more than 15 years, Lucio has been on death row for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez, on Feb. 17, 2007. She was convicted of capital murder in 2008. That murder conviction was based, in part, on a questionable confession obtained from Lucio after hours of interrogation, a confession Lucio has since recanted.
Lucio and her attorneys have said Mariah’s death was an accident caused by head trauma.
Evidence supports this. Mariah was prone to falls due to a congenital foot deformity. Lucio has said Mariah fell down a 14-step flight of stairs outside the family’s second-floor apartment two days before her death in Harlingen.
Five of Lucio’s children told a Child Protective Services worker about the fall and that their mother never hit them or Mariah. One child witnessed the fall.
But prosecutors did not share these interviews with defense attorneys. This led to Lucio’s attorneys and Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz arguing that Lucio’s constitutional right to due process was violated.
Myriad questions also surround the confession.
On the night of her daughter’s death, starting at approximately 10 p.m., Harlingen Police Department investigators questioned Lucio for five hours. She told them that two days prior, Mariah accidentally fell down a steep wooden outdoor staircase at the family’s apartment. She told them after the fall, Mariah became heavily congested and lethargic, vomited and experienced lockjaw.
However, after several hours of interrogation, she told officers that she had slapped, pinched and bit Mariah. She agreed that she was responsible for what happened. But she never confessed to causing her daughter’s death. She has since recanted.
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-plano, has been an outspoken advocate for Lucio and took to social media to celebrate this turn of events.
“I have long maintained that the system failed Melissa Lucio — and her daughter, Mariah — at every turn and that she should be given a new chance for justice … and a new chance for life,” he posted on X. “I’m glad to see the facts coming to light and those responsible taking ownership and working to make this right. Our fight has been worth it — but is not yet over!”
The case returns to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which halted Lucio’s planned execution in 2022. The court should quickly reunite Lucio with her family.
Now it’s up to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals