ET:This article has been updated to reflect the latest news in this case. "My mother is an innocent woman. It's because of the trauma that she has suffered all of her life," she said. Guarnera said she believes a practice used by police in Europe, called the Peace model, would help people in situations similar to Lucio's. Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death, July 10, 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. The Free Melissa Lucio project has worked closely with John Lucio, Melissa Lucio's eldest son, as he advocates for his mother's exoneration. Lucy Guarnera, an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who studies false confessions, said law enforcement often uses "behavioral lie detection" techniques that look at a person's actions to predetermine innocence or guilt. ", "Texas mother is set for execution as evidence suggests she did not kill her child", "I voted to sentence Melissa Lucio to death. 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. the youngest of her 12 children at the time Ms. Lucio was taken into police custody and immediately blamed for her daughters death. The medical examiner also testified at trial that a mark on Mariahs body were bite marks. 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. No physical evidence showed otherwise. 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. However, pathologists who have reviewed the evidence have concluded that this testimony was false. Keller, P.J., joined except for points 4 and 11, in which she concurs. Police contaminate the persons statement meaning they feed the innocent person crime facts or a specific narrative of guilt. Convicted of murdering one of her 9 children, her 2 year old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio," said state Rep. Jeff Leach, who signed the letter. Mariah's mother, Melissa Lucio was convicted of capital murder in this case. 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. Lucio then had seven children with Robert Alvarez. Mariah was crying but did not appear to have any serious injuries, Lucio said. 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. 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. Lucio claims that starting when she was seven years old, her mothers boyfriend sexually abused her for approximately two years. It played at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020, and won best documentary at the Raindance Film Festival. Lucio, 40, of Harlingen was found guilty of capital murder for the death of her 21/2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez. After several hours of interrogation, Lucio stated, "I guess I did it. Liliana Segura, Jordan Smith. The death penalty is wrong. Thousands of pages of Child Protective Services records show that Ms. Lucios 12 children never said she was violent with them and no case workers noted signs of abuse. More than 130 Baptist, Evangelical and Catholic faith leaders in Texas, including the executive director of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas and the director of the Rio Grande Valley Baptist Association, support clemency for Ms. Lucio. At Ms. Lucios trial, the medical examiner testified that the bruises and injuries on Mariahs body could only have been caused by abuse. Melissa Lucios husband Roberto Antonio Alvarez testified in the case about the death of his daughter Mariah Alvarez. Lucio, who is an inmate on Texas death row, is set to be executed on Apr. [13], Lucio was pregnant with twins at the time of Mariah's death, and authorities compelled her to place them for adoption after delivering them while in jail. "She gets very emotional because no one believed her for so many years that she was innocent. "[10], During the trial, Lucio's recorded statements from her interrogation were described as a confession by Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos, who was seeking re-election at the time. Melissa Lucio was found guilty of a very serious crime called "capital murder". 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. 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. Website by MADEO. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. "If you think about what's happening in an interrogation, that's a very parallel process.". There is now evidence that all three of these things happened in Ms. Lucios case. 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. were wrongly convicted of harming children or other loved ones in their care and over 70% were wrongly convicted of crimes that never took place at all events that were accidents, deaths by suicide, or fabricated according to data from the, Detectives rushed to judgment and, just two hours after Mariah died, took Ms. Lucio in for questioning. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. In this undated photograph, Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is holding one of her sons, John. Her lawyers say Lucio's sentence was disproportionate to what her husband and Mariah's father, Robert Alvarez, received. The Cameron County District Attorneys Office reports that Mariah was discovered at the residence with physical evidence of abuse. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. 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. [15], A 2011 appeal against the conviction was denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. [8] She admitted to having spanked Mariah, but denied ever having abused her, which she repeated more than 100 times. A spokeswoman for Abbott's office did not return an email seeking comment. He continued by telling her, "We already know what happened". She also spoke in one of her sisters TikToks and claimed that blame was placed on her in an attempt to free Lucio. Many family members and supporters say the girl's . "The fact that we are all here today and why almost 90 state representatives, the majority of the Texas House, have rallied behind this cause to save Melissa Lucio's life is because of the injustices in her case. The tragic incident that took away a young life happened in her own house. Shes guilty of abusing my sister which led to the death of my sister. [3] Lucio says she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend for about two years, beginning when she was seven years old. var jsTikTok = document.createElement('script'); In a previous investigation into Lucio for alleged child neglect, Child Protective Services found that his youngest kids were frequently left in the care of their older, teenage siblings. [4] As of 2022, Lucio is being held on death row[14] at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. The Innocence Project is affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. And that's as much as people want to know," he said. During her trial, those statements were presented to the jury as her confession. "Mariah's death was a tragedy not a murder. 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. She was just struggling. It stated that Lucio, who was pregnant with twins, was questioned by two armed detectives for more than five hours. She wasn't a perfect mother, but she made sure we were taken care of," he said. 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. 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. The Cameron County District Attorneys Office said Mariah was found at home with signs of abuse. 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. But Ms. Lucios life is still in jeopardy. 11 Strict Rules That Elon Musk Makes His Girlfriends & Wives Follow, Justin Bieber Suspected As The Father Of Kourtney Kardashian's Son Reign (Instead Of Scott Disick), Why Kate Moss Was 'Scared' & 'Couldn't Get Out Of Bed For Weeks' After Working With Mark Wahlberg. She died two days later. HOUSTON During hours of relentless questioning, Melissa Lucio more than 100 times had denied fatally beating her 2-year-old daughter. She had her head down. She also claims three of her older siblings, who have largely stood by Lucio, were not around for the abuse and were living in a different home. The husband of Melissa Lucio, Roberto Antonio Alvarez, is known to have testified in the case involving the death of his daughter, Mariah Alvarez. "When you get to this point, you find there's so many layers that most people aren't aware of and don't care about, frankly. 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. They say he didnt take his daughter to the doctor when she needed it. [4], Mariah Alvarez was born to Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez in September 2004. . Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times by verbally saying 86 times that she did not kill Mariah and by shaking her head no 35 other times, the petition said. They also say Lucio wasn't allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession. She kind of just regurgitates it back, she says the same thing as they said to her because that's the easiest way out," she explained. Lucio told police Mariah fell asleep and did not wake up. Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio is set to be executed on April 27. 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. Death Penalty Action started the Free Melissa Lucio project shortly after Lucio was notified of her execution date. Prosecutors say the now-53-year-old abused her daughter, Mariah, while Lucio maintains that her death was a result of injuries sustained from falling down a flight of stairs outside their Texas home. [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. Lucio, born in Lubbock, Texas, endured years of abuse and violence, according to her attorneys. 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?" The boy then responded: "No, I saw her fall. Kim Kardashian has joined the fight to stop the execution of Melissa Lucio, a woman sentenced to the death penalty for the death of her 2-year-old daughter in 2007. Trial jurors, forensic experts, and Texas lawmakers push for Lucio's life to be spared ahead of her April 27 execution. }); The content produced by YourTango is for informational and educational purposes only. "Please allow us to reconcile with Mariah's death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish and grief. Lucio's legal team submitted an application for clemency to Texas Gov. [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. Trauma victims who dissociate may not fully grasp the severity of the situation they are in so "they're not going to be able to track and pay attention as carefully and this can make you potentially prone to accepting suggestions from officers," Guarnera said. Melissa Lucio and Robert Alvarez became parents to Mariah in September 2004. Bite mark analysis has been. The autopsy also revealed that Mariah had suffered a head injury and bruises on her kidneys, lungs, and spinal cord. According to Selina, the documentary mischaracterizes the accusations against Lucio and adds to the belief that Lucio is innocent. She had scattered bruising, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. She claims bruises found on Mariahs body were consistent with rings her mother would wear. So right there and then, I knew she did something," he said. [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. Research has shown that survivors of sexual abuse and violence, like Ms. Lucio, are even more vulnerable to falsely confessing under such coercive conditions. BROWNSVILLE - Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection in the 13th Judicial District Court, according to a Cameron county District Attorney's Office release. You can also receive help via online.rainn.org, which is available 24/7. Ms. Lucio received a death penalty sentence and is appealing. The autopsy showed that Mariah also had a head injury and bruises on her kidneys lungs and spinal cord. April 17 2022, 4:00 a.m. "Free Melissa . Her execution is set to take place on April 27. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [11][12] A pathologist, Dr. Norma J. Farley, testified that the childs autopsy indicated that she did not die from falling down stairs, and instead her injuries were consistent with a death from blunt force trauma. 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