Death row inmate Melissa Lucio ‘innocent’ in daughter’s death, judge finds

(GATESVILLE, Tx.) — The family of Melissa Lucio, a death row inmate whose execution was delayed in 2022, expressed hope that the Texas woman would be freed after a judge concluded last month that Lucio is “actually innocent” after she was convicted of capital murder in 2008 for the death of her 2-year-old daughter.

“This is the best news we could get going into the holidays,” said her son, John Lucio, and daughter-in-law Michelle Lucio in a statement released by the Innocence Project.

“We pray our mother will be home soon,” the Lucios added, joined by Lucio’s son, Bobby Alvarez.

In a 62-page ruling that was signed on Oct. 16, 2024, and reviewed by ABC News, Senior State District Judge Arturo Nelson recommended that Lucio’s conviction and death sentence be overturned in the 2007 death of her daughter Mariah.

The judge found that prosecutors suppressed evidence and testimony – including statements from Lucio’s other children – that could support the argument that Lucio was not abusive and that her daughter’s death was accidental after a fall down the stairs.

“This Court finds (Lucio) has satisfied her burden and produced clear and convincing evidence that she is actually innocent of the offense of capital murder,” Nelson wrote in the ruling.

“(T)his Court concludes there is clear and convincing evidence that no rational juror could convict Applicant of capital murder or any lesser included offense,” Nelson added.

The judge’s recommendation was sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for review. ABC News reached out to the court for updates in the case.

“Melissa Lucio lived every parent’s nightmare when she lost her daughter after a tragic accident,” Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, and one of Lucio’s attorneys, said in a statement on Thursday.

“It became a nightmare from which she couldn’t wake up when she was sent to death row for a crime that never happened. After 16 years on death row, it’s time for the nightmare to end. Melissa should be home right now with her children and grandchildren.”

Lucio has maintained her innocence over the years.

ABC News reached out to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted this case, but a request for comment was not immediately returned.

Lucio’s story gained national attention through filmmaker Sabrina Van Tassel’s 2020 Netflix documentary, “Melissa vs. the State of Texas,” a documentary that follows Lucio’s journey on death row as she filed her last appeal.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers backed the calls to free the Texas woman and her case was further bolstered by celebrities who called for her freedom, like Kim Kardashian and Helen Prejean, the Catholic nun who wrote the book “Dead Man Walking.”

Abraham Bonowitz, coordinator of the #FreeMelissaLucio Campaign and executive director of Death Penalty Action, told ABC News in a statement on Thursday that Lucio credits the film with bringing attention to her case.

“Melissa Lucio was once two days from execution. It took a film viewed by millions and a massive public relations campaign just to halt her execution and get the courts to order a fresh look at the evidence,” Bonowitz said.

“If it were not for the film that was created, there would never have been enough pressure to stop the execution, which should concern us all — that if you don’t have a film and you don’t have a big campaign, then you can’t be heard,” Bonowitz added in a phone interview on Monday with ABC News.

Amid growing calls for the court to review her case in 2022, Lucio was granted a stay of her scheduled April 27, 2022, execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on April 25, 2022 – after nearly 15 years on death row.

“I thank God for my life,” Lucio said in an April 2022 statement reacting to the stay. “I am grateful the Court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren.”