01x06 - Melissa Lucio

[bunniefuu]

[tense music]

- [Reporter] The countdown
continues for Melissa Lucio.

She is set to be
ex*cuted next Wednesday.

- [Reporter] A mother
convicted for the 2007 m*rder

of her two-year-old daughter.

- The medical examiner
testifies that

Mariah is a victim of
severe child abuse.

- Uh-uh.

- To me, she's not
guilty of m*rder.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- [Reporter] While her
execution approaches,

the number of advocates
protesting her case, increases.

- [Rep. Leach] The life of a
fellow Texan is on the line.

- [Reporter] She's
now just days away

from her execution date.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- 6:00 PM Wednesday is
when they plan to k*ll her.

- I'm scared. I'm
stressed. I'm frustrated.

- We haven't prepared
for this at all.

- Free Melissa Lucio.
Free my mother.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

[deep tense music]

- [Reporter] 15 Years ago,
a Cameron County woman

named Melissa Lucio
was put on death row.

- [Reporter] Lucio was
convicted of k*lling

her two-year-old daughter,
Mariah Alvarez, in 2007.

- Between 2011 and 2019,

Melissa appeals four times

to state and federal courts,
and she is denied each time.

On January 14th, 2022,
Cameron County Court

set Melissa Lucio's execution
date only 14 weeks away.

- [Reporter] Her execution
is now set for April 27th.

- [Reporter] Lucio will be
the first Latina put to death

in the state.

[deep tense music]

- As soon as Melissa Lucio
got an execution date,

it became very real for
everyone involved in that case.

Texas doesn't mess around.

[slow somber music]

Melissa Lucio lived with her
second husband, Robert Alvarez.

She had 12 children
from two relationships.

- Growing up, we had
plenty of good times.

My mother, I mean, just
being in her presence

was a good time.

She always made
something happen.

You know, like she always
put that smile on our faces.

[slow somber music]

My little brothers, the Alvarez,
they're all a year apart.

It's a lotta kids. It's
a lotta responsibility.

And being, basically
a single mother,

was a lot for her, you know.

My younger siblings'
father, Robert Alvarez,

was always in and
out of county jail.

So I mean, my mother
didn't have the support

from her partner, you know,

that she was
supposed to have had.

- I came into the
family, like in 2006,

and me and Melissa right
away, we became really close.

She became like a
second mother to me.

You know, of course
everyone knows

she did have a drug
problem, but she was good.

She was a good mother.

[deep somber music]

- I was 14 years old at
the birth of my sister,

Mariah Elizabeth
Alvarez, in 2004.

She tested positive for cocaine.

CPS got involved,
we got divided.

We all went to a foster
home for two years.

Mariah was taken to a
foster home as well.

So she grew up with
her foster family

most of her 2 1/2 years that
she was, you know, living.

My mother was testing
positive for drugs throughout

many UA, random drug
tests from the CPS.

But, my mother did comply
with their, you know,

regulations and everything
that they had to do.

[slow somber music]

Mariah, she was already
running and everything.

Just seeing the joy in
her was amazing, you know,

like I loved the fact that
she loved her bigger brother.

You know?

[tense pulsating music]

[siren blares]

- On February 17th, 2007,
police get a 9-1-1 call

for an unresponsive child.

When EMTs arrive, there
is a two-year-old child

laying in the
middle of the floor.

Mariah's father was
trying to administer CPR.

Mariah is pale, she's
unconscious, there's no pulse.

EMTs are not able
to revive Mariah.

They also find some
bruising on her.

So, the first
responders are concerned

that Mariah is a
victim of child abuse

at the hands of
one of her parents.

[sirens blaring]

- We got there, everybody
was there, paramedics,

police officers, and Melissa
was just sitting there

on the stairs, you know,
just with a blank stare

on her face like, in shock.

- That night I remember
we had to see them

placing my sister in a bag,

putting all my brothers and
sisters, the younger ones,

inside the back of a cop car

and taking 'em down
to the police station.

- Melissa and Robert were both
taken to the police station,

and she was never
released again.

[sirens blaring]

[tense pulsating music]

[door squeaks shut]

- At 10:00 PM, about three
hours after Mariah passed away,

a Texas Ranger and a
couple of police detectives

begin questioning Melissa.

And, at the time, she
was pregnant with twins.

[deep mysterious music]

- Robert says that he never
saw Mariah being abused,

but that he also
wasn't always around.

And so, maybe when
he wasn't around,

there was something
else going on.

While Melissa and Robert
are being interviewed,

doctors examine Mariah, and
they're noticing bruising

throughout her body.

They notice patches
of her hair missing.

They also see an
abrasion on her back

that's kind of
like a semi-circle,

which they think that
it's a human bite mark.

Putting all the pieces together,

they decide that she is a
victim of severe child abuse.

[deep somber music]

- Melissa is being
interrogated for hours,

shortly after her
daughter passed away.

- She is pregnant with
twins. She is exhausted.

- Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

- Mm?

- Uh-uh.

[tense music]

- [Reporter] We continue
to bring you the latest

on the execution case
of Melissa Lucio,

a mother convicted
for the 2007 m*rder

of her two-year-old daughter.

[tense music]

[door bangs shut]

[haunting music]

[slow tense music]

- Uh-uh.

[deep tense music]

- [crying] I don't.

- Robert didn't
get that treatment

when he was being interrogated.

He didn't at all.

You know, they would ask him a
question and he would answer,

and they'd be like, "Oh, okay."

You know, it was like they
did not interrogate him,

nothing the way they
interrogated her, you know.

And he tested
positive for cocaine.

But Melissa, the night
she was arrested,

tested negative.
- Negative.

She tested negative twice.

- Eventually, Melissa is
arrested for capital m*rder,

and her husband is arrested

for failing to seek
medical attention.

[deep tense music]

- When we heard that she was
charged for capital m*rder,

we were just like,
"Capital m*rder, how?

What do they know
that we don't?"

- Mariah was not m*rder*d
the way they say she was.

This was a tragic accident
that could happen to any child.

[deep pulsating music]

- They're actually moving from
one apartment to the other,

and well, numerous children,
at that time, it's nine kids.

- When they were moving,

Mariah had actually
fell down the stairs.

She's a two year old, of
course falling down the stairs,

she's crying and everything,
but they said she seemed fine.

They didn't seek
medical attention,

which they should have.

- I was advised by my siblings
that Mariah, my sister,

she wasn't eating.

At that time, I wasn't able
to go back to that residence

because I'd got into
a altercation with

Mariah's father,
Robert Alvarez,

'cause he was
actually abusing my mother.

But when they called me
that day, I told my wife,

"Let's go back. Let's
go see the kids.

Let's go see the baby, Mariah."

So when I go in there,
I pick up Mariah.

When I picked her
up, I felt her,

and the apartment was pretty
warm and her body was not.

She's just rolling her eyes
like, they're just rolling back.

I knew something was wrong.

- I was actually in
the car waiting for him

and he was calling me.

So, at that moment, when I
was gonna get off, the father,

Robert, pulled up.

So, we left, you know,
'cause we didn't want them

to call the cops or whatever.

So when we left, John
was actually like,

"There's something
wrong with Mariah.

She's sick, you know,"
which is what he thought.

[siren wailing]

It was maybe an hour or two
after we saw her, you know,

that we got the call
that Mariah had passed.

[haunting music]

He lives with this regret
'til this day still, you know?

What if we had gotten her the
help right then and there?

Would she still be here?

[slow somber music]

[deep tense music]

- At Melissa's trial, the
prosecutor's main witnesses

included the medical examiner

and those who interrogated her.

The medical examiner
tells the jury

Mariah died from
prolonged, severe abuse.

She says Mariah suffered
from extensive bruising,

and also discusses
the mark on her back,

which the medical examiner says

could only have come
from a human adult.

The medical examiner also
mentions an old spiral fracture

to Mariah's arm, and says,

"This is a hallmark
of child abuse."

She testifies that the
brain injury happened

within 24 hours
of Mariah's death.

So, since Mariah fell
down the staircase


essentially the ME
is ruling out that

as the cause of her death.

The other major piece of
evidence in Melissa's trial

was the interrogation.

- Uh-uh.

- Ultimately, the
jury unanimously

sentences Melissa to death.

[deep tense music]

- When they sentenced
my mother to death row,

the prosecutors and the district
attorney jumped for joy,

and they were just excited.

Everybody was giving
each other high fives,

and I was watching this and I
was just, "Really, you know,

like this is what they
get out of sending a woman

to death row?"

It was very sad.

To me, she's not
guilty of m*rder.

Medical neglect, we
could deal with that.

She was a drug ab*ser,
but she's not a m*rder*r.

[tense music]

- Why was she charged
with capital m*rder?

And Robert was charged with--

- Injury to a child.
- Injury to a child,

and only received four years.

That is insane.

He served, I think like
three years out of that four,

four-year prison sentence.

So he's been out for
a long time already,

while Melissa's
sitting on death row.

[deep suspenseful music]

- Over the last 14 years,
Melissa appeals four times.

In the end, all of her
petitions are denied.

On January 14th, 2022,
Cameron County Court

set an execution date for
Melissa Lucio for April 27th.

Now, her family and her lawyers

have 14 weeks to try
and save her life.

[tense music]

- My background, I know
that a lot of that affected

the way the jurors looked at me.

[tense music]

If it would've been a different
race, somebody with money,

somebody with a high
school diploma, a degree,

I think the jurors would've
seen things a lot different.

[soft haunting music]

- The Innocence Project was
founded in the early 90s

when DNA evidence started
to be used in courtrooms.

And for the past three decades,

we have used DNA
and other evidence

to exonerate
wrongfully-convicted people.

We were aware of Melissa's case,

but once the execution
date was set,

we reached out to her counsel
at the capital habeas unit

and jumped on board.

And within three short months,

had worked with so many experts

who were willing also
to drop everything

that they were doing and
get involved in this case,

because the more that people
learned about Melissa's case,

the more they saw
the urgency involved

in the potential execution
of an innocent woman.

[soft tense music]

- As her attorneys begin
to investigate her case,

they can't believe
the series of errors

that they're finding.

- There were faulty forensics
that were at the base

of her wrongful conviction.

The state's medical
examiner testified

that Mariah's
injuries to her head

had to have occurred
within 24 hours

because of the lack of a
factor called hemosiderin.

And she testified and told
the jury that if Mariah

had incurred these injuries
when she fell down the stairs

two days before, you would've
seen hemosiderin in the brain.

But that testimony was false.

Scientific literature
establishes that hemosiderin

may not appear for days
after a head injury.

So in fact, this was
entirely consistent

with Mariah's fall down
the stairs two days before.

The state's medical
examiner told the jury

that Mariah had
extensive bruising

throughout her entire body,

which had to be caused by
an intentional beating.

And in fact, Mariah's
autopsy showed

indications of a blood
coagulation disorder called DIC.

[soft tense music]

Head injuries like the head
injury that Mariah incurred

is a notorious catalyst for DIC.

It can cause profound
bruising and bleeding

throughout the body.

It can appear suddenly,

and bruising can occur
from routine handling.

So it has been in other
cases, like it was here,

confused with child abuse.

- The spiral fracture that
the ME discussed at trial,

experts came back and
said that it was actually

a crack in her bone
that is subtle,

and it's possible that her
parents never even knew

that she had this.

As for the bite mark,
experts now believe

what the ME described
as a human bite mark

actually may have
been an abrasion

that came from her fall
down the staircase.

Bite mark analysis
is really flawed.

Today, bite mark analysis
is not even admissible

in a Texas criminal court.

[siren wails distantly]

- During the course of
Melissa's interrogation,

over a hundred times she
asserted her innocence,

and officers refused
to accept that.

- They kept yelling
at her, berating her,

telling her that she
had to be responsible

for Mariah's death.

And the clear
implication of that

is this interrogation
is not gonna stop

until you tell us
what we wanna hear.

- So, what happened
over the next five hours

was a highly-coercive
interrogation

where officers used methods

that are known to induce
false confessions.

Melissa was highly
vulnerable to these tactics.

- Growing up, because of the
way my mom was treated by men,

I felt [chuckles] very
intimidated by men.

While in the interrogation room,

I was repeatedly asked
what happened to Mariah.

They were very
aggressive towards me,

and I had a lot of
fear in me that night.

It finally got to the point
to where I finally said,

"Maybe if I just tell
them what they wanna hear,

they'll leave me alone."

And that's what I did.

- When people say no
person would ever confess

to a m*rder that
they didn't commit,

that's a lot of BS or hogwash.

This is a woman that
has all these children.

This is a woman who
just lost a child.

This is a woman
who's feeling guilty,

and who's going
through extreme grief.

- This is a woman
who's not lawyered up.

And this is a woman that's
being worn down to her core

through various techniques
and interviewing processes

by law enforcement.

- Melissa has such a
strong innocence case.

Her entire conviction rests
on this coerced confession

and forensic evidence
that we know is false,

it's objectively false.

[tense music]

- After the Innocence
Project became involved

and consulted with a number of
forensic and medical experts,

a clemency petition
was filed in mid-March

on behalf of Melissa, and
that was really asking

Governor Abbott to stay
Melissa's execution

and to grant her clemency
so that, you know,

the execution would
not go forward.

The Innocence Project and the
rest of Melissa's legal team

also filed a habeas petition

in the Court of
Criminal Appeals.

And that asked the
court to also, you know,

stop the execution, so
that we could go back

to the trial court and
have an opportunity

to present the new evidence
of Melissa's innocence

to a judge.

[slow somber music]

Five members of Melissa's
jury came forward.

They wanted Melissa's
execution to be stopped.

They provided affidavits
stating that they were misled

by the evidence, and that many
of them would not have voted

to convict, much less
sentenced Melissa to death,

had they known then
what they know now.

[tense music]

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

Free Melissa!
- While her execution

approaches, the
number of advocates

protesting her case increases.

[mysterious music]

- [Reporter] Reality
star Kim Kardashian

urging the Texas governor
to stop the execution.

- Anytime that an innocent
person is wrongfully convicted

and in prison, it
galvanizes the public.

- [John] What is it gonna
take for us to stand up

and do the right thing?

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- But where that person is
set to be ex*cuted, I mean,

that's when you see people
take to the streets.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- [Reporter] Today,
advocates joined the family

of Melissa Lucio in Brownsville
for a demonstration.

- It means a lot to, you
know, me, my brother,

'cause we want my mom home.

- Sign the petition to
help us bring her home.

- [Reporter] The Innocence
Project has collected

more than 270,000 signatures
to stop Lucio's execution.

- At the end of the day,

we want this government
to do the right thing.

- Give justice to Melissa.

- Re-investigate this case.

- Free my mother.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- Free Melissa Lucio.
Free my mother.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- [Reporter] Today,
advocates joined the family

of Melissa Lucio
for a demonstration.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

[soft haunting music]

Free Melissa Lucio!

- All the evidence that they
presented was unexplainable.

- Was the confession
freely given?

- It was a forced coercion.

- [Protestors] Free Melissa
Lucio! Free Melissa Lucio!

[rapid swooshing]

[soft boom]

[gentle tense music]

- Now, the reason that
we're here today doing this

is 'cause we made a
promise to your mom,

and told her that we were
going to do everything we could

to fight, not only for
her, but for Mariah.

- One of Melissa's
biggest supporters

is a pro-death penalty
Texas Republican.

- This is the most
troubling case,

not only that I've ever seen,

but I think this might
be the most troubling

death penalty case maybe in
the history of our state.

- Jeff Leach, fighting
for my mother's life,

believing in her innocence,
I mean, that's amazing.

- Texas politics does
not get more partisan.

And so, to hear that a
pro-death penalty Republican

is advocating for Melissa
Lucio is unheard of.

[slow somber music]

- Today, we're gonna

do everything we can.

This hearing is just one
additional tool we have

in the toolbox to
[clears throat],

to shine a light in
what I consider to be

a really, really
dark, dark place.

- [John] Mm.

And so, we're gonna ask
tough questions today.

If you're asking me how I expect
today to go, I don't know.

- Right.

- I don't, I don't know.

But, I'm hopeful that
when we get done today,

hopefully millions of more
people, not only across Texas,

but across the country
will see what's happening

and will speak out.

[soft somber music]

- The Texas House
of Representatives

has a criminal justice
reform committee.

They became interested
in Melissa Lucio's case

and held a hearing in which
DA Saenz was called to testify

and asked questions about
Melissa Lucio's case.

[soft somber music]

- Today's hearing
has been planned

on relatively short notice.

Representative Moody
and I, Vice Chair Moody,

went to Gatesville,
Texas last week

and visited Miss
Lucio on death row.

And, we promised Miss Lucio
we would do everything we can

to push the pause button,
at the very least,

just to push the pause button,

because in two
weeks on April 27th,

the life of a fellow
Texan is on the line.

There's very real questions,

not only about
guilt or innocence,

but about the process
in and of itself.

With that, members, the chair
calls the district attorney

of Cameron County, Luis Saenz,
who's joining us virtually.

So, Mr. Saenz, you've
requested the execution date

be set when it did.

So, you also have the power
right now to unilaterally,

without the Board of Pardons
and Paroles, or the governor,

or the Court of
Criminal Appeals,

to request the execution
date to be called back.

- Mr. Saenz, I would
just beg you, urge you,

on behalf of yeah,
Melissa and her attorneys,

but the legislature and the
interest of justice to say,

what harm does it do to
push the pause button?

[tense music]

[deep somber music]

- I'm scared, but...

I'm scared for my children.

[deep somber music]

I'm scared that,

that nobody's gonna be
there to support them

if this execution goes through.

I worry for them.

- So, Mr. Saenz, you've
requested the execution date.

You also have the
power right now

to request the execution
date to be called back.

[gentle haunting music]

- Now that Melissa
Lucio has her date,

there will be time
for her to acknowledge

who she wants to witness
the execution on her behalf,

where she wants her
belongings to be sent

in the event that the
execution is carried out.

And, we'll really start
just thinking about

those final arrangements,
including too,

who will handle her burial.

Once the doctor pronounces
the inmate dead,

a local funeral home
will remove the body

from the death chamber.

And then from there,
either the family

or the inmate's
friends can elect to

handle the burial themselves,
or if they do not, then,

the prison system actually
handles the burial arrangements.

And there is a prison
cemetery where certainly,

a number of inmates
who've been ex*cuted,

they're buried there.

[soft haunting music]

- We haven't prepared
for this at all.

I mean, we don't--

- Nor should you.

- You know, this was like,

we didn't think we
would get to this day.

So, we're not prepared at all.

- We're not. We're
not. We really aren't.

I mean--

- Because we still believe
that there isn't gonna be

an execution date.

- And for whatever reason, we
don't get a stay of execution,

we don't get clemency,

the execution is
proceeding as scheduled.

If that happens, we do
have caravan mobilization

potentially on Tuesday,
from Gatesville itself

to Huntsville.

We know that's the day
she's being transferred.

We protest there.

- [sighs] I mean, God
forbid, it happens.

But, if it does, I mean, I
am her power of attorney,

I am responsible
for her remains.

- I actually received
this letter Wednesday.

"Inmate Melissa Lucio has
listed you as a witness

to this scheduled execution.

Approved witnesses will
be briefed

regarding the execution."

It says, "After the execution,

the chaplain will
escort the witnesses

to the hospitality
house for debriefing."

[Michelle sighs heavily]

"Only those on the witness list
who desire to view the body

after the execution
will be escorted

to the Grace Baptist Church
on Highway 19 in Huntsville

for a 15-minute viewing."

- God bless you.

[tense music]

- We're at the Texas State
Capital in Austin, Texas.

[tense music]

We're two days from the
scheduled execution.

they plan to k*ll her,

unless we can stop it.

We've got an innocent
person on death row

facing execution in two days.

And, this is unacceptable
and we want it stopped.

- It's something that
we're really holding onto

because it's the last
thing that we can do,

hold out hope for Melissa.

- [John] Free Melissa Lucio!

- [Protesters] Free Melissa
Lucio!

- [Reporter] Lucio's execution
is set for this Wednesday.

- No one deserves to suffer
the way that she's suffering.

No one has the right
to take someone's life.

- I'm gonna fight like
a soldier for my sister,

because my sister's
gonna come home.

- This is not the time to
whisper, but the time to shout.

- [Protestors]
Free Melissa Lucio!

- [Reporter] With
the clock ticking,

Lucio's family and supporters
say they're not giving up.

[soft dramatic music]

[deep somber music]

- [Jeff] Melissa?

- [Jeff] Hey, this
is Jeff Leach.

- [Jeff] How are you today?

- [Jeff] Good. Have
you heard the news?

[tense music]

- [Reporter] The countdown
continues for Melissa Lucio.

- [Reporter] She's
now just days away

from her execution date.

- [Protestors] Free Melissa
Lucio! Free Melissa Lucio!

- Well, 6:00 PM Wednesday is
when they plan to k*ll her,

unless we can stop it.

- What I wanna know
more than anything

as a citizen of this great state

is that the system can be
trusted, that it's fair.

[deep somber music]

- [Jeff] Melissa.

- [Jeff] Hey, this
is Jeff Leach.

- [Jeff] How are you today?

- [Jeff] Good. Have
you heard the news?

- [Jeff] The Court of
Criminal Appeals issued a stay

of your execution for Wednesday.

[Melissa gasps]

[Melissa crying]

[Melissa crying]

- [Jeff] [laughs] Well, it
means you're gonna wake up

on Thursday morning.

- [Jeff] And--

[Melissa crying]

- [Jeff] The order
was very strong,

and it appears that you're
gonna get a new trial,

at the very least.
They...

[soft somber music]

[supporters cheering]

- Thanks. Oh my god, thanks.

Oh my god, thank
you, God. [crying]

- Tivon, tell me, Tivon.

- I don't even know what
to say. I'm just so happy.

- The execution was
stopped so that her case

can go back to the trial court,

and that we can have
further proceedings

on her innocence claim;
on claims that the state

used false evidence to obtain
her criminal conviction;

that the state failed to
turn over to the defense,

favorable evidence that
they're required to

under the Constitution;

and that since the time
of Melissa's trial,

science has evolved,
and some of the evidence

that was used against her
has been explicitly rejected.

And those hearings
will be ongoing.

[men laughing]

- For Melissa, this is
basically starting over.

Either her case is
gonna be thrown out,

they're going to
give her a new trial,

or, in a matter of months,

they're going to
restart the clock,

and give her a new
execution date.

So, for Melissa and her
family, this is not the end.

- The fight is, you know,
it's still not over.

She's still in there.
- Right.

- And I mean, we're here.

We're gonna fight 'til the
end, 'til we get her home.

As long as we don't have to
worry about April 27th coming,

we're very excited,
we can breathe.

We believe she will come home,

and we can't wait for that day.

- [chuckles] I mean,
there's so much to say.

I mean, I'm just trying
to get order, I'm sorry.

We're just one big
old team, you know,

putting up the fight for my
mother, Melissa Elizabeth Lucio.

And we're gonna keep
on fighting this fight

'til we bring her home.

And I just wanna say thank
you, and God bless everybody.

- Amen.
- Yes.

[daunting orchestral music]