The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday rejected a 2024 trial-court finding that Melissa Lucio was actually innocent of capital murder in her 2-year-old daughter’s death, leaving her on death row after 18 years. Her lawyers said they will appeal in federal court.
Lucio was convicted in 2008 after prosecutors argued that severe head trauma and bruises showed her daughter had been abused. Her appeal argued that Mariah was injured in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before she died. The trial judge’s 2024 ruling cited false testimony, suppressed evidence and new scientific evidence that undermined the state’s case; prosecutors had conceded they withheld material evidence.
The five-judge majority said the trial judge relied too heavily on Lucio’s interpretation of the case rather than the prosecution’s; four judges dissented. In 2022, the same court ordered a review two days before her scheduled execution, narrowly sparing her from lethal injection.
