A Texas death row inmate has been deemed “actually innocent” by a judge who has recommended that his death sentence be overturned after new evidence confirms that his daughter died in a fall.
Melissa Lucio, a 14-year-old mother from Brownsville, Texas, was arrested and charged in 2007 with the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah Alvarez, who turned purple and unresponsive in her home.
Since being convicted of secret murder in 2008, Lucio, with the help of a majority of the Texas Legislature and reality TV superstar Kim Kardashian, has maintained his innocence, claiming that his daughter fell down the stairs. Prosecutors argued that the case was flawed because it relied on false testimony. evidence.
Cameron County 138th District Court Judge Arturo Nelson ruled that Lucio was “actually innocent” and did not kill his daughter, according to court documents. Retrieved by KPRC.
Additional evidence that had been withheld by prosecutors during Lucio's trial was introduced and used to convince Nelson of her innocence.
“In light of the new evidence, there is clear and convincing evidence of innocence (Lucio) that a reasonable jury would not have returned a guilty verdict,” Nelson wrote. .
According to court records reviewed by the Post, prosecutors said at the time that infant Mariah had numerous signs of trauma and bruises on her body on February 17, 2007, when paramedics tried unsuccessfully to revive her. He claimed to have covered it.
There were scratches and bite marks among the injuries on the body.
Coroner Dr. Norma Jean Farley said Mariah's cause of death was head trauma and that the infant's injuries “could only have been caused by intentional physical abuse inflicted within 24 hours of death.” ” he testified.
Ms. Farley's testimony ruled out the possibility that the infant's injuries were the result of an accidental fall.
Texas Ranger Victor Escalon, who interrogated Lucio on the night of her daughter's death, determined the mother's guilt based on Lucio's demeanor.
“Escalon testified that (Lucio) did not make eye contact with the investigator and kept her head down, so he realized at the scene that she had done something, and that she was ashamed of what she had done. , I had a hard time admitting what had happened.”
During questioning, Lucio admitted that in the two days between the fall and her death, her daughter's “condition” worsened, becoming severely congested and lethargic, with two notable symptoms: vomiting and lockjaw. .
Lucio and her husband, Robert Alvarez, never sought medical treatment for their daughter and repeatedly denied causing her daughter's death.
After being shown photos of his dead daughter, Lucio told investigators that he had slapped, pinched and bit Mariah, and although he agreed he was responsible for her death, he was not responsible for her death. He never admitted to causing the incident, court documents show.
Child Protective Services took custody of eight of Lucio's children, and at least one told police they witnessed Mariah's fall.
Nelson found that the jury based its verdict on Farley's false testimony and Escalon's false testimony.
Lucio's case caught the attention of Kardashian in 2022. Ten of her children wrote a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles pleading with them to overturn their mother's death sentence.
“Please save the life of our mother, Melissa Lucio. Please close. We ask for peace,” the letter said.
Kardashian called the letter “heartbreaking” and said there are “many unanswered questions about this case and the evidence used.”
“This is one of the many reasons I oppose the death penalty, and why I pray that the children's wishes will be granted and their mother's life saved,” she wrote. In a post on Facebook.
The case will move to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will decide whether to accept Nelson's recommendation to overturn Lucio's murder conviction and death sentence.
If Lucio remains on death row, she would become the first Latina to be put to death in Texas, according to reports. Texas Tribune.
She is being held at the Patrick O'Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas.
