By Armando Hernandez
Apr 16, 2024, 9:59 PM EDT
Texas Judge Arturo Nelson recommended that the death sentence against Latina Melissa Lucio be annulled. after concluding that the Prosecutor’s Office did not share key evidence that contributed to his defense for the death of his two-year-old daughter in 2007, the media reported this Tuesday.
The judge who presided over the trial against the Latina mother in 2008 issued the recommendation last Friday after the Cameron County Prosecutor’s Office accepted that it withheld evidence in favor of Lucio, convicted of beating and torturing her daughter Mariah Elizabeth to death. Álvarez, the youngest of his 14 children.
As it was announced, The judge signed a highly unusual agreement between Cameron County prosecutors and Lucio’s defense attorneys on April 12, determining that the district attorney’s office at trial withheld testimony from Lucio’s children that supported their claims that Mariah died after an illness and a fall.
Police found the girl unconscious, with bruises and a broken arm when they responded to an emergency call on February 17, 2007. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The Hispanic mother told police that her daughter fell down the stairs and that caused her death.and. However, the prosecution did not believe the version, accused her and sought the death sentence.
It is now known that the testimonies of five of Lucio’s children, who assured that their mother did not abuse them or Mariah, were not shared with the defense.
One of the children told a Child Protective Services investigator that he saw the girl fall down the stairs of her apartment and corroborated Lucio’s account of the girl’s injuries and deteriorating health in the days after the accident. incident.
However, instead of turning over the three documents to Lucio’s attorneys, prosecutors provided them with summaries that omitted favorable testimony, Nelson concluded. The original statements were found by Lucio’s lawyers only in 2019after Cameron County District Attorney Luis Sáenz allowed them to review the case file compiled at the time of the trial.
Lucio was nearly executed in 2022 when her case made headlines across the state and the nation and the public, including Texas Republican lawmakers, rallied to her defense. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the execution two days early to review several issues. The court will now have the final say on whether to overturn the conviction.
save, The Prosecutor’s Office and Lucio’s lawyers reached an agreement, which was approved by Judge Nelson, indicating that “she would not have been convicted in light of the suppressed evidence.”
The controversial case of the American of Mexican descent has caused great indignation both in the United States and in the international community, which is why her 12 children have sought support from different organizations to stop their mother from facing the death penalty for a crime that he allegedly did not commit.
Keep reading:
– Hispana was sentenced to death for allegedly killing her daughter. But the case is full of irregularities
– Melissa Lucio: Texas prosecutor raises doubts about the execution of the Latina sentenced to death
– Court suspends execution of Melissa Lucio in Texas to review the case for the death of her two-year-old daughter