Melissa Lucio, sentenced for the death of her daughter Mariah, soon to be executed in Texas
Relatives of Melissa Lucio on the steps of the administrative entrance to the Cameron County Courthouse in Brownsville, Texas, Monday, February 7, 2022. AP - Miguel Roberts
Text by: Thomas Harms Follow
7 mins
Melissa Lucio is due to be executed on April 27 in Texas.
Convicted of killing her 2-year-old daughter, she is the first Hispanic woman on death row in that state.
A documentary,
The State of Texas against Melissa,
shed light on her case, sowed doubt and generated a vast mobilization of anti-death penalty activists, but also anti-abortion activists and even Kim Kardashian.
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From our correspondent in Houston
,
For 15 years, Melissa Lucio has been waiting in prison for her execution.
The case dates back to 1997 when her two-year-old daughter, Mariah, was found unconscious in her apartment in Harlingen, southeast Texas, near the Mexican border.
Rescuers were unable to resuscitate her.
Marks on the child's body lead police to suspect a homicide.
Forensic medicine will specify that the death was due to a violent shock to his head.
Mariah had fallen from a staircase a few days before her death.
Melissa Lucio is arrested.
His interrogation lasted more than five hours.
“
In fact, they tried to get me to admit that I was responsible for his downfall.
And I kept telling them that I hadn't hurt my daughter.
They were rude, brutal.
They kept pointing at me and threatening me to confess something that I wouldn't have been able to do to my child
.
»
This testimony, from the documentary
The State of Texas against Melissa
, is followed by the videos of her interrogation, of which here is a verbatim:
Policeman 1
: “
This is your chance to establish the truth.
Because right now it looks like capital murder and you're a murderer.
Are you a cold-blooded killer?
Melissa
:
No, I'm not.
Policeman 1
:
Ah!
You're just an exasperated mother who picked on her.
Policeman 2
:
You know something is wrong.
Melissa:
No, I don't know.
Policeman 2
:
If I show you all these photos.
If I beat you to death like this child was, I think you would be dead too.
Melissa:
I swear I didn't beat my daughter, sir.
Policeman 2
:
No?
Melissa
:
I'm not that cruel to my kids, sir.
Policeman 2
: “
So where are these bruises on this poor child coming from?
»
An interrogation technique since described as "
brutal
".
“
She repeated her innocence at least 100 times,
denounces Sandra Babcock, professor of law at Cornell University and lawyer for Melissa Lucio
.
But the police did not accept this version and continued to demand her confession of guilt, until she broke down and admitted being responsible for certain injuries found on her daughter.
But it was a coerced confession.
And in the documentary you can see how aggressive the police are.
They dominate her with all their height, one of them speaks to her 2 cm from her face.
They carry weapons, the majority are men.
And for a woman who had experienced male violence all her life, it was a terrifying situation.
The only thing she could do to make it stop was tell them what they wanted to hear.
»
Melissa eventually confesses to spanking and biting her daughter.
The prosecutor considers this confession as a murder confession and demands the death penalty.
The jury will follow the prosecutor without having heard any of the 13 other children of Melissa Lucio, nor any medical expert.
The children, now adults, say they never witnessed any violence from their mother and some witnessed Mariah's fall.
Five former jurors are demanding a new trial.
At the same time, the child's father, reported to the police for domestic violence, was only sentenced to four years in prison.
Melissa Lucio during her trial in Brownsville, Texas, Thursday, July 10, 2008. AP - Theresa Najera
Shortly after the trial, in 2014, the prosecutor in this case, Armando Villalobos, was sentenced for corruption to 13 years in prison.
He demanded money to influence his judgment and used this trial to mobilize his political base and secure his re-election.
Armando Villalobos, during a press conference, July 10, 2008. AP - Theresa Najera
So the doubts surrounding this trial and the fateful date approaching led to a rare mobilization: more than half of the Texan Parliament, nearly 90 Democrats and Republicans, asked to suspend this execution.
Including proponents of the death penalty, like Plano Republican elected official Jeff Leach.
In this April 6, 2022 photo, Jeff Leach and Melissa Lucio during a visit by seven lawmakers to the Mountain View unit in Gatesville, Texas.
PA
“
As a conservative Republican, I have always been in favor of capital punishment for the most horrific crimes.
But I've never seen a case as disturbing as that of Melissa Lucio,
says Jeff Leach
.
Some would argue that seeking a stay of execution or commutation of sentence weakens our criminal justice system.
I think if we do everything we can to make sure an innocent or potential innocent is not put to death by the state (of Texas), we make our justice system stronger. .
And we do justice to Mariah and the Lucio family.
I want to be able to talk to religious leaders and those who invade this Parliament when we discuss abortion law.
So I'm asking and imploring you to champion this case as well, because the life of a Texan woman who obviously appears to be innocent is at stake.
"
Melissa Lucio, dressed in white, with a group of seven Texas lawmakers praying in a room at the Mountain View unit in Gatesville, Texas on April 6, 2022. Lawmakers came to inform her of their efforts to prevent his execution on April 27.
PA
It is very rare for the Texas parole board to reverse a death sentence.
But John Lucio hopes.
The eldest child visits his mother once or twice a week.
John Lucio speaks to reporters before an Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform hearing about his mother, inmate Melissa Lucio, Tuesday, April 12.
2022. AP - Jay Janner
“
My mother isn't considering any execution date.
She is confident.
She says she will come home and live with us, then she will be our babysitter.
My mom feels really good, we went to see her with this great news that Kim Kardashian supports her.
We only know one thing: when she gets home, she's going to have to cook a lot of meals for us
.
»
The governor of Texas will have the last word, after the opinion of the parole board.
But the last time he commuted an execution to a prison sentence was because the victim's family members asked him to do so.
And today, all of Melissa Lucio's children are begging him to pardon their mother.
Melissa Lucio's nephew, Angel Aparicio, holds up a sign advocating against the current death penalty for his aunt, Melissa Lucio, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, in Harlingen, Texas.
AP - Denise Cathey
The new district attorney in charge of Melissa Lucio's case, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, believes the criminal appeals court will issue a stay and postpone the execution date.
Otherwise he will do it himself, while waiting for the 17 appeals to be studied.
►
The petition to ask for leniency from the State of Texas towards Melissa Lucio
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