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John —
Right now, Melissa Lucio is on death row for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter Mariah — a crime that never occurred — and she’s scheduled to be executed on April 27, but we’re fighting to stop that. Add your name to stop this injustice now.
Today, Melissa's legal team filed a motion to withdraw or modify her execution date. The filing in the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County asserts that Melissa was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for her daughter’s accidental death.
“Police immediately jumped to the conclusion that Mariah had been murdered and never considered medical and scientific evidence that could have established Mariah died after an accidental fall,” said Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, and one of Melissa’s attorneys.
Take a moment today to read more about the facts in Melissa’s case, and share her story with your friends and family online. Then, add your name to the tens of thousands of others calling on Texas to stop Melissa’s execution.
Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was sentenced to death in July 2008, in Brownsville, Texas. (Image: AP Photo/Valley Morning Star, Theresa Najera)
On the night of her daughter’s death, Melissa was taken into a police station where she was aggressively interrogated for five hours without an attorney present. She eventually told the police what she thought they wanted to hear so the questioning would stop, saying, “I guess I did it.”
But the police didn’t take into account that Melissa had suffered a lifetime of sexual abuse — starting when she was just 6 years old — and domestic violence, which made her especially vulnerable to their coercive interrogation tactics.
A meaningful review of Melissa’s innocence case is needed before an irreversible injustice occurs.
“Withdrawing the execution date so that the district attorney, the courts, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Governor can undertake a meaningful review of Melissa’s innocence case, the coercive tactics used in her interrogation, and her lifetime of sexual abuse and domestic violence is the common-sense position and imperative as a matter of basic fairness,” said Vanessa Potkin.
Please, learn more about Melissa’s case and then spread the news to make your friends and family aware of this grave injustice.
Thank you for your support,
— The Innocence Project Team
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