Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez welcomed Mariah into the world in September 2004. Melissa Lucio, only Latina on Texas death row, seeks clemency as execution looms. 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. In particular, the jury never learned about the extent of Ms. Lucios history of child sexual abuse and domestic violence and how it shaped her reactions immediately following her daughters death. 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. All she had was us," she said. She said that her boyfriend was often violent and used drugs and alcohol. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is set to be executed on April 27. 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. So right there and then, I knew she did something," he said. As indicated by legal counsel at the Lucio Reassessment Watch group, Melissa is not at fault. Texas lawmakers push for clemency or reprieve for Melissa Lucio, woman on death row accused of killing her child . He got a four-year sentence for causing injury to a child by omission even though he also was responsible for Mariah's care, Lucio's lawyers argue. The officers relied on their presumptions about how a mother should act in this tragic scenario and their gut-feeling, without a thorough forensic examination of the evidence to draw an unscientific presumption of guilt, which then created tunnel vision of investigators and the interrogating officers. Greg Abbott to grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. While she was incarcerated, she gave birth to twins, making four total. Three older children went to live in Houston with their father, and Lucio regained custody of the others in late 2006.[5]. He says he didnt know about Mariah Alvarezs serious injuries before she passed away. In shock and grieving the loss of her baby. As experts explain, particularly when wielded by male police officers the type of interrogation used against Ms. Lucio simply recapitulates the psychodynamics of domestic abuse. So, it makes sense that women, like Ms. Lucio, who learned to survive domestic abuse by accommodating and conforming to the wishes of the violent partner will likewise accommodate and conform to the demands of a threatening, armed male police officer in the interrogation room. 16th Street, 2nd Avenue, Batsona Community 18 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. "There are already police departments around the world who have this more investigatory, fact-finding model," Guarnera said. I am now convinced that the jury got it wrong and I know that there is too much doubt to execute Lucio. Additionally, court documents state that the emergency room physician said he had not seen a case of child abuse worse than Mariah's. New evidence suggests the death may have been an accident - and today, the Texas Board of Pardons . These conditions led her to be manipulated into admitting she caused her daughter's death despite Lucio asserting her innocence over 100 times throughout the interrogation, according to her lawyers. . tiktokscr.parentNode.insertBefore(jsTikTok, tiktokscr); 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. 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. The autopsy showed that Mariah also had a head injury and bruises on her kidneys lungs and spinal cord. In a video, a female officer asks the boy: "Did you see your sister fall down the stairs or did somebody tell you that she fell?" 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. Isla Bryson Parents: Who Are The Parents Of Isla Bryson? Lucio is set to be executed on April 27 for the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah. Liza Soberano children: Does Liza Soberano Have Children? Shortly after Mariah was born, Lucio tested positive for cocaine use; as a result, authorities decided to place her children in foster care. At one point, a ranger got within inches of Lucio's face and said there was evidence that did not look good, the petition stated. They used coercive methods known to produce false confessions. 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. The tragic incident that took away a young life happened in her own house. As a result, she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation, according to her legal team. [4], Mariah Alvarez was born to Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez in September 2004. [16] In 2019, a three-judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial because of the trial court's interference in Lucio's right to present a defense. Melissa Lucio Mariahs mother was found guilty of capital murder. After several hours of interrogation, Ms. Lucio said, I guess I did it, and made other incriminating statements, to get the officers to end the interrogation. window.addEventListener('scroll', function() { Whitaker was convicted of masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother. It's like Cameron County prosecutor Alfredo Padilla said "the decision was based on evidence and evidence alone". Website by MADEO. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a134b9f398d2f98 Texas Innocent Project. She is now fighting to stop her April 27 execution. Your IP: Lucio's supporters have said her clemency request is similar in that her family would be retraumatized if she's executed. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. "She was not evil. Melissa Lucio holds her daughter Mariah. Photos: Melissa Lucio Daughter Mariah Alvarez Autopsy Melissa Lucio is the first Hispanic woman to receive a death sentence in the state of Texas. Mariah was crying but did not appear to have any serious injuries, Lucio said. 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. In 2008, Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of her 2-year old daughter Mariah, who died two days after a tragic fall down a flight of stairs. Ms. Lucios execution for April 27, for a crime that never occurred. Lucios defense team has pointed out many issues in the case that suggest Lucio never got a fair trial. 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. 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. Please spare the life of our mother," Lucio's children wrote in a letter to Abbott and the board. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession. She was interrogated for five hours by armed police officers who reportedly berated her. Lucio that her teenage daughter, Alexandra, may have been responsible for the bruises found on Mariahs body after her death. Thank you for visiting us. After nearly 15 years on death row in Texas, Lucio was granted a stay of her scheduled . 89.44.32.192 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. Lucio was convicted in the 2007 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, and sentenced to be executed. He concluded that Dr. Farley appeared to have jumped to wrong conclusions. 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.. "You're not making this firm division between a victim and suspect because a lot of times you don't know at the beginning who's a victim and who's a suspect.". In the documentary, Alexandra does not recall these alleged confessions. Lucio says she regrets the confession and her advocates suggest that police and prosecutors were wrong to assume that she was the only one in the home capable of abusing Mariah. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of. She had her head down. In this undated photograph, Melissa Lucio holds one of her sons, John. 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. Shes guilty of abusing my sister which led to the death of my sister. Lacking solid physical evidence, Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos presented Ms. Lucios conciliatory statement to the jury as a confession to homicide and sought the death penalty. "I don't want to be in that room on April 27 to see her get executed," Michelle Lucio said. He also stated that Lucio's execution would be a terrible tragedy. I believe that she should be in prison. 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. Later on, Lucio had seven children with Robert Alvarez. Melissa Lucios husband Roberto Antonio Alvarez testified in the case about the death of his daughter Mariah Alvarez. He is accused of neglecting to take his daughter to the doctor. She was sexually abused by family members beginning at the age of 6. Among the tips is to make the victim feel safe, arrange for an advocate to be present in the room, express compassion and not interrupt the victim. Lucio is seeking clemency as her April 27 execution date approaches. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died. 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. It stated that Lucio, who was pregnant with twins, was questioned by two armed detectives for more than five hours. 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. Attempts to reach Crain were unsuccessful. Police contaminate the persons statement meaning they feed the innocent person crime facts or a specific narrative of guilt. It was later determined that Mariah's arm had been broken two to seven weeks before her death, and an autopsy also showed a head injury and bruising of the kidneys, lungs and spinal cord. Experts who have studied false confessions and trauma response said Lucio's behavior is common in abuse victims and criticized the Rangers' interrogation tactics. Abbott has granted clemency to only one death row inmate, Thomas Whitaker, since taking office in 2015. Abbott and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. There is now evidence that all three of these things happened in Ms. Lucios case. Research has shown that survivors of sexual abuse and violence, like Ms. Lucio, are even more vulnerable to falsely confessing under such coercive conditions. She says she was coerced to confess by a Texas Ranger during her interrogation. All Rights Reserved. "She gets very emotional because no one believed her for so many years that she was innocent. She would be the first Latina to ever be executed in the state. 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. 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. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. In 2008, Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of her 2-year old daughter Mariah, who died two days after a tragic fall down a flight of stairs. Lawyers for Lucio deny those claims and say the bruising was a result of the fall. 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