Mother of Fourteen Slated for Execution

Apr 25, 2022

Melissa Lucio, a mother of fourteen, is due to be executed by the State of Texas this Wednesday. Ms. Lucio was convicted in the death of her daughter Mariah more than a decade ago, with a highly suspect trial.

At the time of Mariah’s death, Lucio had twelve children, and was pregnant with twins. She had great difficulty just keeping the large family fed.

Mariah died of a head injury. Lucio’s lawyers say Mariah had fallen down a flight of stairs while the family was moving out of their apartment. She then died of her injury several days later while taking a nap. Police who arrived on the scene felt Lucio did not fit their idea of a grieving mother; from the beginning they painted her daughter’s death as a murder. They sweated her for five hours straight, turning off their camera for part of the interrogation. At the end, they had coerced her into saying what they wanted her to say: that she had beaten her daughter to death.

Lucio’s partner was given a brief sentence for failing to seek out medical attention. But somehow Melissa Lucio was sentenced to die—despite the fact that Lucio had no record of violence or child abuse.

Her lawyers, including prominent anti-death penalty activists, point out that the trial did not consider evidence; they are demanding a new trial. Five jurors in her trial have called for a new trial or a reprieve of the sentence.

Texas legislators held a hearing, calling on the District Attorney to put a hold on the execution. His response was outrageous: "For me to sit here unilaterally and just pull the plug on it, then what do I say to the other 195 poor souls that are on death row right now, who by the way are also innocent?" Well, that’s simple: Stop the executions!