Melissa Lucio execution: White House won’t be drawn in on case as international pressure grows
Latest developments in Melissa Lucio case
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There are growing calls on Texas Governor Greg Abbot to grant clemency to Melissa Lucio who faces execution later this month. European nations, a juror, Kim Kardashian, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are among those pleading for Lucio’s life.
The 53-year-old domestic violence victim and mother of 14 has been on death row since her trial over the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter.
Her lawyers argue she “falsely” admitted to killing Mariah after hours of intense police questioning and that she died from falling down a steep staircase outside their apartment in Harlingen, South Texas, and not from being beaten.
Worn down by her grief and abuse throughout her life, Lucio admitted to a crime she didn’t commit during the aggressive interrogation, her lawyers say.
On 18 October, the US Supreme Court denied a petition to hear Lucio’s case, paving the way for the state of Texas to set the date for her execution — to be carried out by lethal injection on 27 April.
Writing for The Independent, an expert in false confessions says Texas is executing an innocent woman in one of the most tragic cases they have seen in their career.
Kim Kardashian shares ‘heartbreaking’ letter by Melissa Lucio’s children in bid to stop execution
Women on death row: How being a ‘bad mother, bad wife and bad woman’ became a death warrant
I’m an expert in false confessions who looked at Melissa Lucio’s case. Texas is executing an innocent woman- Juror who sentenced Melissa Lucio to death for daughter’s murder calls for retrial: ‘I was wrong’
Where is the death penalty still used in America?
Twenty-seven states across America still have the death penalty.
They are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky. Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
Nathan Place and Helen Elfer look at where and how often the death penalty is still used in the United States.
American death map: Which US states have capital punishment and who uses it the most?
Many object to the inconsistency with which the US death penalty is applied across the country
What do Melissa Lucio’s lawyers say led to her ‘false’ confession?
Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. Only 17 women have been executed in the US since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976, most recently in January 2021.
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. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died.
Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. Child Protective Services was present in the family’s life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, according to Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucio’s attorneys who is with the Innocence Project.
Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age six, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession.
In the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah.
“I was not gonna admit to causing her death because I wasn’t responsible,” Lucio said.
AP
Kim Kardashian shares ‘heartbreaking’ letter by Melissa Lucio’s children
Kim Kardashian has shared a letter from Melissa Lucio’s children, as calls are mounting for Lucio’s planned execution in Texas to be stopped.
“So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio’s children begging for the state not to kill their mother,” Kardashian tweeted on Thursday (7 April) along with the letter.
“There are so many unresolved questions surrounding this case and the evidence that was used to convict her.”
Clémence Michallon has the story.
Kim Kardashian shares ‘heartbreaking’ letter in bid to stop Melissa Lucio’s execution
There have been growing calls to cancel or commute Lucio’s death sentence
Texas lawmakers meet and pray with Lucio, pledging to help save her life
A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers visited Melissa Lucio on death row as part of an effort to top her execution amid doubts about whether she fatally beat her two-year-old daughter.
State Representatives Jeff Leach, a Republican, and Joe Moody, a Democrat, led the group on Wednesday to the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas, where the state houses women on death row.
Texas lawmakers meet and pray with Melissa Lucio on death row as execution looms
‘We’re more resolute and committed than ever to fighting over the next three weeks to save her life’ says Rep Jeff Leach
What do Melissa Lucio’s lawyers say led to her ‘false’ confession?
Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas and the first woman since 2014. Only 17 women have been executed in the US since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976, most recently in January 2021.
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. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died.
Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. Child Protective Services was present in the family’s life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, according to Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucio’s attorneys who is with the Innocence Project.
Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age six, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession.
In the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah.
“I was not gonna admit to causing her death because I wasn’t responsible,” Lucio said.
AP
What you need to know about the Melissa Lucio case
Melissa Lucio was sentenced to death in 2008 after being convicted of killing her two-year-old daughter Mariah the year before. Her lawyers argue a confession was given under duress and she says herself that she did not do it, and has aksed Governor Greg Abbott for clemency with her execution date less than a month away.
Rachel Sharp reports on the case for The Independent.
Texas lawmakers pray with Melissa Lucio on visit to death row, pledging to save her
Latest developments in Melissa Lucio case
Juror says he was wrong to succumb to peer pressure over death penalty
One of the jurors who sentenced Melissa Lucio to death has written a newspaper editorial claiming he was misled and pressured during the mother’s trial for murdering her two-year-old daughter.
Johnny Galvan Jr wrote in The Houston Chronicle that he was wrong to succumb to “peer pressure” and change his vote from a life sentence to the death penalty, or they’d “be there all day” if he didn’t.
Justin Vallejo reports.
Juror calls for retrial of woman he sentenced to death for murder of her daughter
Melissa Lucio is scheduled for execution on April 27 for beating her daughter to death
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