Melissa Lucio Breaking News: Clemency Hearing To Decide Fate Of Texas Woman As Supporters Rally Nationwide

Speaking at a vigil held Friday for Melissa Lucio in San Juan, Texas, her sister Sonya Alvarez told KHOU-TV, “We are so thankful. We couldn’t handle this alone… I have faith that our sister will come home”.

Friends and family gathered at the Basílica Nacional Santuario de Nuestra Señora de San Juan del Valle for the vigil, which is among many in support of Ms. Lucio.

Esperanza “Hope” Treviño, the 77-year-old mother of Ms. Lucio, was photographed at the vigil praying for her daughter, who would become the first Latina to be executed in Texas and the first woman elected in the state since 2014 if a last minute appeal fails.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles will consider a request to commute Melissa Lucio’s death sentence to life in prison or to grant her a 120-day stay of execution. However, any decision by the parole board will need the approval of Texas Governor Gregg Abbott. The Republican has only granted clemency to a single death row inmate since he took office in 2015.

Appeals seeking to stop Ms. Lucio’s execution, currently scheduled for Wednesday, are also pending in state and federal courts.

Additional information from The Associated Press.

Nearly half of the jurors who sentenced Melissa Lucio to death have since called for her execution to be halted and for a new trial to be held for the 53-year-old.

The prosecutor in the case, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, also said earlier this month that he did not “disagree with all the scrutiny this case is receiving. I welcome that.”

During a recent Texas House committee hearing on Ms. Lucio’s case, Mr. Saenz initially rejected requests to use his power to stop the execution, before saying later that he would intervene if the courts did not. they acted

Lucio, whose lawyers say evidence shows she did not cause her two-year-old daughter’s death in 2007, is now subject to a clemency hearing on Monday.

Additional information from The Associated Press.

The European Union (EU) has called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott to reverse his state’s death sentence against Melissa Lucio.

French Ambassador to the US Philippe Etienne and EU Ambassador to the US Stavros Lambrinidis jointly signed a statement on behalf of the EU calling on Mr Abbott to grant Lucio clemency .

“As you know, the European Union and its member states have abolished the use of the death penalty in all circumstances,” the letter says.

“We firmly believe that it is possible to offer unconditional support to all victims of abuse and crime, as well as their families, by rigorously and effectively prosecuting and punishing perpetrators, outside the framework of the death penalty,” it said.

Johanna Chisholm has more.

Supporters held rallies across the United States over the weekend urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott to spare the life of Melissa Lucio, who is on death row after being convicted of murdering her two-year-old daughter Mariah. years, in 2007.

During the demonstrations, organizers attempted to collect signatures for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Mr. Abbott.

Rallies were planned in Houston, Atlanta, Austin and 13 other states. “Melissa was questioned for almost seven hours, just minutes after she was taken into custody following the death of her daughter,” rally organizer Cody Huffman told KSAT-TV.

“Nothing in there proves that she physically did anything to commit the crime for which she was convicted. And, but there is a lot of evidence that shows that she is innocent of the crime,” Huffman added.

Bobby Alvarez has been running from one pillar to another to get the Texas authorities to stop the execution of his mother, Melissa Lucio, scheduled for April 27.

Lucio, the only Hispanic woman on death row in Texas, has always maintained that she was wrongly convicted of the 2007 murder of her two-year-old daughter Mariah.

“It was very difficult to be put in foster care… you feel so alone and that no one is there for you. I cried every night wanting to go back to her, wanting my parents to come for us. She knew they wouldn’t come, but there was always that hope,” she said. the independent.

The 53-year-old mother of 14, along with several medical experts who were not heard at her trial, say the girl actually died from injuries caused by an accidental fall down the stairs two days before her death.