Melissa Lucio - latest: Family look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day after stay of execution
Follow live updates on Melissa Lucio’s fight for her life
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Your support makes all the difference.The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted Melissa Lucio a stay of execution on Monday and ordered a court to consider new evidence in her case, just 48 hours before she was scheduled to be put to death.
Lucio was told the news in an emotional phone call with Texas Rep Jeff Leach where the Hispanic mother-of-14 sobbed and gasped, asking “are you serious?”
In a statement, the 53-year-old thanked God for saving her life and paid tribute to her late daughter Mariah who “is in my heart today and always”.
Lucio’s attorneys and supporters also celebrated the ruling including Kim Kardashian who called it the “best news ever”.
The last-minute stay came minutes before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles was to recommend whether or not Lucio’s death sentence should be commuted to life imprisonment or if she should be granted a 120-day execution reprieve. The parole board said it would not recommend clemency after the stay was announced.
Lucio was sentenced to death for the 2007 murder of her two-year-old daughter Mariah.
Her lawyers say she was coerced into a false confession during an aggressive police interrogation and that scientific evidence shows Mariah died from a fall.
‘I thank God for my life’: Melissa Lucio is granted 11th-hour stay of execution by Texas appeals court
‘Melissa’s life matters’: Campaigners react as Texas court pauses Melissa Lucio execution- Emotional moment Melissa Lucio learns she has been granted a stay of execution
Kim Kardashian celebrates Melissa Lucio execution delay: ‘Best news ever’
‘Fighting for momma bear’: Melissa Lucio’s son begs Texas to halt her execution for a crime he knows ‘she couldn’t have done’
Sabrina Butler-Smith escaped execution after she was falsely accused of killing her son. Now, she’s fighting for Melissa Lucio
From Kim Kardashian to Amanda Knox: Famous names who have joined fight for Melissa Lucio and why
Kim Kardashian weighs in on Melissa Lucio execution stay
Kim Kardashian is best known for her reality TV shows and modeling, but in recent years has become a vocal proponent for wrongfully convicted death row inmates.
Shortly after the news that Lucio’s execution was halted and her case returned to a lower court, Kardashian took to Twitter to celebrate the news.
‘Melissa’s life matters’: Reactions as Texas court pauses Melissa Lucio execution
Cheers of joy from activists supporting Melissa Lucio broke out after they learned that Lucio’s execution was being halted and her case returned to a trial court for further consideration.
Lucio was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday.
Read more about the public’s reaction to the news in Josh Marcus’s reporting below...
‘Melissa’s life matters’: Reactions as Texas court pauses Melissa Lucio execution
Case remanded to trial court to consider new evidence
Melissa Lucio offers statement following her stay of execution
Melissa Lucio’s execution was halted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and will be sent back to a trial court to examine evidence supporting her claim of innocence.
She gave a brief statement following the announcement, including a reference to her daughter, Mariah.
“Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren,” Lucio said.
Melissa Lucio granted stay of execution by Texas appeals court
Melissa Lucio has been granted an 11th-hour stay of execution, just 48 hours before she was scheduled to be put to death for a crime she says she didn’t commit.
Texas parole board to decide by 1.30pm CT whether to recommend clemency
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is expected to decide today whether the state should move ahead with Melissa Lucio’s execution or grant the mother-of-14 clemency.
The parole board is considering Lucio’s case on Monday to determine if her death sentence should be commuted to life in prison, if she should be granted a 120-day reprieve from execution or if the execution should go ahead as planned.
The board has until 1.30pm CT to decide its recommendations.
Once the board reaches a decision, Governor Greg Abbott will then have the power to decide whether or not to act on its recommendations.
He will then have until 6pm CT on Wednesday to take action.
Melissa Lucio’s attorneys make last-ditch bid asking DA to stop execution – using his own words against him
Melissa Lucio’s attorneys have made a last-ditch bid to Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz asking him to withdraw her execution date, pointing to his own promise under oath to save the Hispanic mother-of-14’s life.
On Monday morning, Lucio’s legal team filed an additional supplement to a previous motion asking the DA to withdraw the order setting the 53-year-old’s execution date.
Mr Saenz requested Lucio’s death warrant and execution date and so he also has the power to withdraw the date at any time.
Yet, he has given mixed messages about whether or not he will step in and stop the execution.
Last week, during a contentious hearing led by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, Mr Saenz initially refused to take any action to stop Lucio’s execution.
But, later in the hearing, Mr Saenz relented saying that he believes the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will issue a stay and that, if it doesn’t, he will.
“If defendant Lucio does not get a stay by a certain day, then I will do what I have to do and stop it,” he said.
Republican State Rep. Jeff Leach warned that he would hold the prosecutor to his promise saying “we got it on tape”.
Now – just 48 hours until Lucio will be put to death – Mr Saenz is yet to take any action to halt the execution.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
Melissa Lucio’s attorneys make last-ditch bid to DA to stop execution
Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be put to death at 6pm local time on Wednesday for a crime she says she didn’t commit
The famous names who are fighting for Melissa Lucio’s life
With two days to go until Melissa Lucio will be executed in Texas for a crime she says she didn’t commit, a growing number of famous faces have joined the fight to save her life.
Kim Kardashian drew national – and even global – attention to Lucio’s plight in early April by tweeting about the case to her 72.1m followers.
On 7 April, she shared a “heartbreaking” letter signed by the Texan mother’s children begging for her life to be saved and told her followers that there are many “unresolved questions” around Lucio’s case.
Amanda Knox has also joined in calls to stop Lucio’s execution, comparing the conviction of the mother of 14 for the murder of her two-year-old daughter Mariah to her own wrongful conviction in Italy for the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher.
Ms Knox shared a Medium post about Lucio’s case on 19 April – just one week away from the execution date – saying that she wishes she could “welcome her into our exoneree family”.
The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:
The famous names fighting for Melissa Lucio from Kim Kardashian to Amanda Knox
With two days to go until Melissa Lucio will be executed in Texas for a crime she says she didn’t commit, a growing number of famous faces have joined the fight to save her life. Rachel Sharp writes
Son says he’s thankful for support
Speaking after a “Call to Action” day on Saturday for Melissa Lucio, one of her sons told News 4 he was overwhelmed by the support for his mother.
“It means a lot to me that people are supporting my mom, sharing her story and speaking out on this injustice,” said Bobby Alvarez. “Knowing her date is four days away is very emotional. Very hard to grasp knowing my moms days are limited.”
Reports suggested as many as 16 rallies were held for Ms Lucio and her appeal for clemency ahead of a Wednesday execution date on Saturday, with the rallies stretching from San Antonio to Boston.
White House voices opposition to death penalty
Asked about Melissa Lucio’s case by The Independent this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there was “nothing to predict” regarding the 53-year-old and her appeals for clemency.
Pointing to US President Joe Biden’s public position on the death penalty, Ms Psaki said:“Well, you know the president’s position and view on the death penalty, and there’s an ongoing review at the Department of Justice, at a federal level, this is obviously at a state level. I don’t have anything to predict beyond that.”
The remarks came as campaigners and Texas lawmakers called on Texas’s governor Greg Abbott to step-in and grant Ms Lucio a reprieve or a commuted sentence. Her lawyers say she was unfairly tried in 2008 for the death of her two-year-old daughter.
The Independent raises Melissa Lucio death penalty case before the White House
Lucio could became first Latina executed in modern Texas history
Catholic nun among supporters of Lucio
Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun who has spent decades campaigning for the death penalty to be abolished, wrote on social media that “psychological pressure and coercion” led MS Lucio to “admit to things that never happened”.
The author of the book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, tweeted that “Melissa Lucio was interrogated by investigators trained to extract confessions, not to find the truth”.
“When psychological pressure and coercion are applied with clinical precision, people buckle and admit to things that never happened,” she continued, in comments echoing the 53-year-old’s lawyers.
As Rachel Sharp writes, Sister Prejean has previously witnessed the executions of two death row inmates who she spiritually advised in the 1980s:
Nun who wrote ‘Dead Man Walking’ joins calls to save Melissa Lucio
Melissa Lucio is scheduled to be executed on 27 April over the death of her two-year-old daughter which her attorneys insist was ‘a tragedy, not a murder’
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