A mom who is scheduled to be executed in just 11 days has received an outpouring of support from the same district attorney that placed her on death row in the first place.
Melissa Lucio is a mom of 14 children who is also the first woman of Hispanic descent in Texas to be sentenced to death.
The 50-year-old woman was sentenced to death back in 2008 for the 2007 death of her two-year-old daughter. The child was found at the family's Harlingen home unresponsive and covered in bruises, with Lucio telling authorities that two days prior, she had fallen down some stairs. The little girl was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
However, prosecutors successfully argued that the child was beaten to death and that her mother was to blame.
Per ABC News, Lucio's lawyers have argued that the mother's confession was obtained through manipulation by police.
Her lawyers say that she was interrogated by officers for over five hours - without food, water, or a lawyer - while she was grieving the death of her daughter and pregnant with twins.
More on Lucio's case in the video below:Despite proclaiming her innocence more than 100 times throughout the interrogation, Lucio told police: "I guess I did it. I’m responsible."
But the mom has now said that she was simply taking responsibility for her daughter's alleged fatal fall in an effort to protect her other children - who were babysitting at the time - from any blame.
Additionally, as reported by news.com.au, footage from the interrogation of one of her sons shows him telling a female officer that he saw his sister fall down the stairs.
In the video, the boy is asked: "Did you see [your sister] fall [down the stairs] or did somebody tell you that she fell?"
To which, he responds: "No, I saw [her fall]."
Now, less than two weeks before Lucio is set to receive the lethal injection, the Cameron County District Attorney who put the mom on death row is now walking back on his decision.
DA Luis Saenz said at a Texas House committee on Tuesday that he believes the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals should stop the execution, saying: "If defendant Lucio does not get a stay by a certain day, then I will do what I have to do and stop it."
Despite the hopeful comment and Saenz saying that he "does not believe that this execution" will take place on April 27, he did not make any official intervention during the meeting.
A petition to Saenz created by the anti-death penalty advocacy group Death Penalty Action has also been signed by over 58,000 people.
"The ask is very specific. We're asking the governor and Board of Pardons and Paroles and the district attorney, which are the three [political] entities that can do something about this, to watch the film...because we believe anybody that watches this film will come away at least with doubt if not being convinced of Melissa's innocence," Abraham Bonowitz, the co-founder and director of Death Penalty Action, writes in the petition.
Lucio's case has also been highlighted on social media by reality star Kim Kardashian.
Tweeting a scan of a letter to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed by Lucio's children calling for her life to be spared, Kardashian wrote to her 72.1 million followers:
"So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio’s children begging for the state not to kill their mother. There are so many unresolved questions surrounding this case and the evidence that was used to convict her."
"This is one of the many reasons why I am against the death penalty - and why I pray her children’s wish is granted and their mother’s life is spared," Kardashian added.
Although Saenz's pledge has been criticized for lacking any real clarity, per The Independent, State Representative Jeff Leach - who co-led Tuesday's meeting - has since stated that Saenz’s words could be relied upon.
Leach said: "My understanding of [Saenz’s] remarks to the committee were that if we don’t get a stay or clemency issued… then he will step in and withdraw his request for an execution date. That was unequivocal to the committee, and we got it on tape."
Additionally, per NBC News, State Rep. Joe Moody stated that he believed, on any occasion, that if there are mistakes in a case, "it is the duty and the moral responsibility of a prosecutor to right those wrongs."
Lucio's execution is currently scheduled for April 27.
