A bipartisan group of 20 state senators is asking for Melissa Lucio to be granted reprieve or clemency.
On April 27, the South Texas woman convicted of killing her 2-year-old child Mariah in 2007 is set to die by lethal injection. But advocates say her daughter died after an accidental fall down the stairs. They argue that Mariah's death was a tragedy, one that Lucio shouldn’t have to pay for with her own life.
In a letter Wednesday, 20 Texas senators asked the board to stop a “miscarriage of justice” that could work to erode the public’s trust in the state’s legal system. Many legal experts have questions regarding Lucio’s guilt, and her case has gained renewed interest thanks to aLed by Brownsville state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., who is not related to Melissa Lucio, the lawmakers insisted that capital punishment would not translate to justice for Mariah.
The state must ensure that it never executes someone who’s innocent, the letter states. Although eyewitness accounts point to the fact that Mariah fell, there aren’t any accounts that indicate Lucio had committed murder.
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