At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to a clemency petition issued by her lawyers. In 2020, a documentary was made regarding the case story of Melissa Lucio by Sabrina Van Tassel with the title The State of Texas vs. Melissa. Learn how your comment data is processed. On April 27, the day Lucio was set to die, they held another rally outside the Cameron Country DAs office, this time calling on Saenz to drop the charges. Have you heard the news? But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. According to the innocence project, Melissa, the mother of 14 children, was a loving and caring mother despite facing physical assault and abuse from her partner and ex-husband. Legal team for Melissa Lucio Her life was worth nothing to them. But the older children had it harder. Later, after receiving many letters, punishments, executions and defense statements from Lucios lawyer, Lucio was still being interrogated for the murder of her then youngest child of a total of 12 children born to her due to two marriages. Looking at her pictures, we can identify that she is overweight. Last October, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case. On 27 April, Melissa Lucio was supposed to die. The lawmakers visited Lucio to update her about their efforts to stop her April 27 execution. Ultimately, the two women hooked up with Abraham Bonowitz, executive director of Death Penalty Action, who had organized a campaign around Lucios case across Texas and beyond. There is a motion pending in the trial court to disqualify him from further participation in this case, Schardl said. This makes my day, he said. This is a beating. Medical experts who reviewed Lucios case now say that Mariahs injuries were entirely consistent with a fall down the stairs, and that Farley failed to rule out that possibility before jumping to her inflammatory conclusion. One of her other daughters, Adriana, stands at left. 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"It's very common to be mistaken for abuse if you don't look for the signs.". Ms. Lucio was taken for questioning and was interrogated for nearly five hours, at the time she was pregnant and was going through a shock of the loss of her young child Mariah. It was potentially one of the last times he would see her alive. After her conviction for Mariah's murder, Melissa's children were taken from her care. Lucio was kind and gentle; Toon couldnt imagine that she was capable of killing anyone, let alone her own daughter. Thats what brought Luna and Toon to the Capitol on April 25. "She is not guilty of the death of my baby sister.". From the moment he walked into the interview room, Escalon testified, he knew that Lucio had done something. The notion that a person can determine anothers guilt or deception through their body language has been roundly discredited. "They 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.". In this April 6, 2022 photo provided by Texas state Rep. Jeff Leach, Rep. Leach stands next to death row inmate Melissa Lucio during a visit by a group of seven lawmakers to the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. This couldve been me, she said. State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and other members of the Texas House Criminal Justice Reform Caucus ask state officials to halt the execution of . Child Protective Services was present in the family's life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, lawyer Vanessa Potkin said. Just two days before Melissa Lucio was scheduled to be to be put to death, a Texas court on Monday halted her execution and sent her case back for review. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. "Do it real hard," he said. It was Lucios son John, calling to say that the court had intervened. While bouncing around online, Toon came across the documentary The State of Texas v. Melissa, which confirmed her instincts that Lucio was innocent. Prosecutors say Lucio fatally beat Mariah but Lucio has long denied that, saying her daughter died from injuries sustained during a fall down a flight of stairs. Lucio, a . "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. It came as it was revealed that Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. Opinion is divided on her guilt, though - many of her living children have backed up her claim of innocence, and five of the jurors who convicted her have since expressed misgivings over the verdict. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren". Mariah is in my heart today and always. On April 25, 2022, the Texas court granted a stay of execution and directed the Cameron County 138th Circuit Court to review Lucios case with new evidence of her innocence regarding the death of her daughter Mariah. April 25, 2022 by John Atsu. The wounds never fully healed. During Lucio's 2008 trial, prosecutors claimed she beat her daughter Mariah to death. Everybodyknows who she is., Liliana Segura[emailprotected]theintercept.com@lilianasegura, Jordan Smith[emailprotected]theintercept.com@chronic_jordan. "They badgered, berated and yelled at her until she finally agreed to their demands and insistence that she was guilty of harming her child," said Ms Babcock, who argues that there was a "rush" to judge her guilty. ", Speaking to CBS Mornings he said: 'If they go through with it, they'll be killing an innocent woman.. Melissa Lucio was the epitome of every system in the state of Texas failing at every level: education, health, faith community, she said. 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Earlier, Lucio was sentenced to death back in 2008 and at the time when she was imprisoned, she was pregnant with twins, whom she had to give up for adoption as she could not have the nourishment of the babies in jail. In a phone call on Monday, Johnny Galvan, one of several jurors who supported Lucios clemency petition, expressed relief upon hearing that the court had stayed Lucios execution. Maggie Luna was beaming from ear to ear, and Jennifer Toon had tears in her eyes. The 53-year-old was convicted in 2008 for the murder of her 2-year- old daughter, and would be the first Latina killed by the state if her execution goes as planned. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. But two days before the 53-year-old mother of 14 children was due to be executed, she was given a second chance. At the age of 16 she became a child bride but once again had to face an abusive marriage. Although interviews with Lucio's children, her mother, and her sisters give the clear sense that Melissa's family wants her home, it never really feels like the family members get comfortable . This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. She married at age 16. It's a disorder, she says, that in other cases has been "confused for child abuse because it causes extensive bleeding and bruising throughout the body. Instead, just before 1 p.m., Bonowitzs phone rang. Prosecutors at her . Melissa deserves to remain and die in prison. Lucio is over 77 kgs or 170 lbs .The native of texas uses drugs very often and has been tested for cocaine earlier in her criminal offence. The detective handed Melissa Lucio a plastic doll and asked her to spank it. Director of The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Sabrina Van Tassel argues for Melissa Lucio's retrial. Theyd also filed a petition with the Court of Criminal Appeals, arguing that new evidence undermined Lucios conviction. 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