S5:09:122:The State of Texas Vs. Melissa Lucio

0:11 Welcome to A Day with Crime podcast. Well Crime A day keeps the doctor away. Here are your hosts, David in Geneva mcclem. What's going on? And welcome to another episode of A David Crime. I am your host, one half of the team, David mcclem. You are listening to season five, episode nine, total case number one hundred and twenty two. All right, So if we wonder why I'm by myself, it is because we have some technical difficulties with Geneva. So last week, as you know that, there's no episode that went up because I was trying to wait for her to come back. You know, we are a teen She had a microphone issue at that time, and then this week she accidentally cracked her MacBook and had to have that repaired, which is gonna take another five days. So we did not want you guys to go another whole week without an episode, so I am here to shoot one for you guys today. So let's talk about a couple of things off the top. As I just said, we miss in Geneva. She will be back with me next week and we would continue our regularly scheduled program as usual. This is kind of a milestone so I'll talk about a little bit here and then we'll talk about it in great

1:41 detail when Geneva is back by the time you hear this, or we will probably be at May seventh. That is actually our fourth year anniversary of doing this show. So we have been on the air four years as of May seventh. Our first case, if you guys are up, went through our whole entire catalogue. The one that brought us to this dance was O. J. Simpson. We published that May seventh of twenty eighteen, gave you guys a little bit of an introductory teaser about what the podcast is going to be about on May one of that year as well. So four years, we want to say thank you. Without you guys, we would not be here this long. We will talk about that a little bit more than Eva comes back next week. All right, So if you are new to the podcast, we want to say welcome to you, kind of give you a little bit of how we do things wrong here. We do read from Wikipedia, but we cross reference everything and we throw in things that we have researched ourselves. We only use Wikipedia so that it is easy for you the audience to follow along with us. So if you ever reading Wikipedia and it doesn't seem that there's things in there that we're talking about. It's because we have cross reference this and we're throwing in information that we know Wikipedia is not always

3:12 one hundred percent accurate, and we want to bring you those accurate case as we can. So today we're going to talk about a case that was just back up in the courts in April twenty five. We're talking about what happened there. We're going to talk about the State of Texas versus Melissa Lucio. Or if you never heard of this case, there is actually a documentary called The State of Texas Versus Melissa, which you should be able to find that I believe on Hulu if I can find out. We'll leave a link to that at the bottom. Just a brief warning. This case does have to do with abuse of a child, so if you do have a trigger with that, I want to warn you. Now. All right, let's get started. So there's not a lot of history, so this case kind of just jumps right in and then we're talking more in detail about the crime in which she is accused of. Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was born June eighteenth of nineteen sixty nine. She is the first woman of Hispanic descent to ever be sittenced to death row in the state of Texas. She was convicted of capital murder after the death of her two year old daughter, Mariah, who was found to have scattered bruising in various stages of healing, as well as injuries to her head and contusions of the kidney's lungs and spinal cord. Prosecutor said that

4:46 Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that Mariah's death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days before her death. Melissa was questioned by law enforcement for several hours after Maria's death, and she said more than one hundred times that she had not abused Mariah until making a vague statement that she was responsible for what happened to Mariah. Melissa's attorneys say that she was vulnerable to making a false confession because she has a history of physical and sexual abuse. Melissa's case was the subject of the twenty twenty documentary The State of Texas Versus Melissa. Melissa has maintained her innocence and corneal law school Professor Sandra Babcock has called a prosecution by far, the weakest capital case I've ever seen. Her execution date was set for April twenty seven, two thousand and twenty two. And let's talk a little bit about that because a lot of people say, yeah, if you didn't do it, you won't confess. That is definitely not true. If you watch this documunity, you see what happened. So a lot of cases and if you work for law enforcement, I'm sorry forgive me, but I'm just gonna speak this because this is the truth. In a lot of cases, law enforcement hones in on one person, no matter how many interviews they do, don't matter how many people you line up and they say they didn't do it. Once they've locked in on you, that is it. That was the case with Melissa Lucio.

6:23 You watch a documentary, they're pretty much brow beating her into saying that she beat her child because of the fact that she's sitting there and the dude is not just coming in saying Melissa, did you do this? Or Melissa, what happened? He's down right, like, Melissa, we know that you killed your daughter Mariah. Won't you just come out and just tell us that you killed her, and she's like sitting there, gun, I didn't do anything, and they just keep row beating her. So over a hundred times, she said she did not abuse Mariyah. But especially if you deal with somebody that you've already broken down, or let's say they have some type of mental illness, it may take you several hours, but eventually you're gonna get that person to come out and say exactly what you want. We've seen this in a lot of cases, especially with young children who's involved with things.

7:15 They'll get to the point of melv you can just tell us what happened. We'll let you go home. The young child or young teenager or even sometimes young adulters like, you know what, if I can just go home, I'll just tell you what you want to say, and I'm gonna go home. And that's not how that works. So, according to CPS court records, Melissa's father died when she was an infant, and when Melissa was three or four, of the family moved to the Rio Grand Valley, where her mother had grown up. Melissa said that she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend for about two years beginning when she was seven years old. Melissa was married at the age of sixteen and had her first five children with Guadaloupe Lucio. Melissa stated that he was often addicted to drugs and alcohol and was physically abusive. Melissa had her remaining seven children with Robert Alvarez. So her attorney is already stating that it has a lot to do with the fact that she's in this position because of the fact that she was abused as a miner, and that she was very vulnerable to making this confession because of that.

8:28 So I can see how that works. My father was extremely abusive, and if you got a man that looked like Kim but as tall as him, and you get in my face and start yelling at screw when I was a child, you could pretty much get me to do anything that you wanted me to do because I was afraid of that, and I was afraid of what may come next. So that's kind of a very good defense in her case. So what happened to the baby Mariah Alvarez? So she was born to Melissa lou See Robert Avarez in September two thousand and four. Mariah was Melissa's twelfth child. Child Protective Services had previously investigated Melissa for allegations of child neglect, and they said that Melissa's youngest children were often left in the care of their teenage siblings. Melissa was addicted to cocaine. She tested positive sh left to Mariah was born, and this prompted authorities to place her children in foster care. Her three older children went to live in Houston with their father, and Melissa regained custody of the others in late two thousand and six. On February seventeen, two thousand and seven, paramedics were called to the Lucia residents because two year old Mariah was unresponsive and not breathing. According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. She reportedly had scattered, bruising, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm.

9:58 According to Melissa, two days earlier, Mariah had fallen down a set of stairs, leading to her injuries. Mariah was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital. It was later determined that Mariah's arm had been broken two to seven weeks before her death in an optopsy also showed a head injury and bruising of the kidney's lungs and spinal cords. Now we're talking a little bit more, hearing a bit about who they suspected had did this. But remember I said that when the police homes in on you, that's all they see. Well, they have actual evidence right here, because I just told you that she had bite marks on her back. There's your proof. You can line that up. You can take impressions of Melissa's teeth to see if that is the proper bite mark. You could swab that for s saliva to see if it matches that of Melissa. From what I have read and found, none of that took place, and as far as I'm concerned, that is a dead marker. You can find a lot of things out about a bite mark, but none of that happened. So falling Mariah's death, Melissa was arrested in question for seven hours by Texas ranger Victor Eskalan, without a lawyer, president and without receiving food or water. I want you guys to think about that. Close your eyes for a minute and just imagine I'm a cop.

11:28 I'm gonna take you and I'm gonna put you in a room somewhere, just me and you. I'm gonna lock you in there, and I'm gonna sit about a foot away from you for seven hours. I'm gonna deny you food. I'm gonna deny you water, I'm gonna deny you an attorney. I'm gonna deny you a bathroom break. How long before you start to want to say anything to get out of that room? Melissa admitted to having spanked Mariah, but denied ever having abusing her, which she repeated more than one hundred times. She was then told by Escalon, right now, it looks like you're a cold blooded killer. Now are you a cold blooded killer?

12:09 Or were you a frustrated mom who just took it out on her? He continued by telling her we already know what happened. After several hours of interrogation, Melissa stated, I guess I did it. I'm responsible. Again, she says, I guess I did it. I'm responsible, after Escalon continued to yell, now, the one thing that this doesn't say, you will see if you watch the documentary is when she said that she had spanked Mariah, they put a baby doll but side up on a table and Escalon said, I want you to show me how you spanked this child. And what she did was she pretty much. She goes, I just tapped on the butt like this and it was like two quick taps. But Escalon was not people with that. He continued, he goes, well, I don't believe that that's how you really did it. If you was really frustrated, is that how you show me how you did it. So he wouldn't get off of her with that until she smacked the doll more than twice, and she smacked the doll a little bit harder than she had previously. He's goading her into saying, yeah, well it started with this and I was spanking her so hard and it led to this. But if you watch a documentary, you see exactly what I see. He's leading her into that direction. He won't get off of her back until she says that the way he wants her to say it, or she does it the way he wants her to do

13:41 it. One of Melissa's sons was also questioned by law enforcement short left to Mariah's death. In a video, a female officer asked the boy, did you see your sister fall down the stairs or did somebody tell you that she failed? And the board then responded, no, I saw her. Want you to keep in mind her older children. This young man came out. They grilled them for several times too, and nobody will relent. They all said they saw Maria fall down the stairs, but nobody was happy with that, even when they came to all of the children saying, my mom did not do anything. This is what comes up. So what happens to her legal proceedings? So doing the trial, Melissa's recorded statements from her interrogation was described as a confession by Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villa Lobos, who was seeking reelection at the time. This is a key point that I want you guys to remember. Armando Villa Lobos, who was the district attorney, was re seeking reelection at that time. Folks, if you know anything about crime, if you know anything about politics, you know that the most opportune time if you're for reelection is to have a murder case, a good murder case

15:16 that you can stake your claim on, maybe hopefully find a conviction before your time is up, and then That usually seals in your reelection because you come out and you say things like I put the crack down on crime. I'm putting the crack down on child abuse. Look what I just did. I just got Melissa Lucio convicted. Reelect me and a lot of times that works. But wait a minute. He wasn't all opened up either. See Villa Lobos. On February level of the twenty fourteen, was sentenced to thirteen years in federal prison for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme, so with the US Attorney's Office said in the Southern District of Texas. In his trial, they found that he solicited and accepted over one hundred thousand dollars in bribes and kickbacks in the form of cash and campaign contributions in return for favorable acts or prosecutorial discretion. If you don't know what that means, let me just say I washed Joe back, you wash mine. So somebody would come to our mono Villa Lobos and say so and so's cases coming up. I really need this win. I'm gonna need you as the DA to do whatever you can to help me get this person convicted. I know that this person didn't

16:49 do it, but this is who everybody thinks did it, and I need this to happen. So Villa Lobos did everything in his power to make that happen, and when he did, he got money for that call a kick back over one hundred thousand dollars worth. This is the same person that said that they took Melissa's confession as fact. A pathologist, doctor Norma J. Farley, testified that the child's optopsy indicated that she did not die from falling downstairs, and instead her injuries were consistent with the death from blunt forced trauma. Additionally, court documents state that the emergency room physician said he had not seen a case of child abuse worse than Mariah's, and if you watch this documentary, race yourself, because he's right. They showed you these photos.

17:44 They were horrible. Melissa's defense argued that Mariah's injuries were from falling down the stairs and that Lucihow's psychological functioning contributed to her conflicting reports given to authorities. Despite the defense's arguments, Lucia was found guilty of capital murder and later sentenced to death in two thousand and eight. So she gets found guilty of capital murder that carries a death sentence. Villa Lobos is of her reelection. You don't think he's gonna go for that, absolutely, so she gets put on death row in two thousand and eight. At the time that she was put into jail, she was pregnant with twins, and authorities compelled her to place them for adoption after delivering them while she was in jail. As of now this year, twenty twenty two, she's been held on Texas Death Row at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Now, if you're from Texas, I'm sorry, but they've always referred to Texas as the death row capital of the world because Texas does not hesitate to execute somebody. They did follow appill in twenty eleven against the conviction, and it was denied. In twenty nineteen, of three judge panel of the Federal Appeals Court overturned the sentence because of the trial court's interference and Melissa's right to present a defense. The decision was subsequently overturned and Lucia remained on death row. Forensic pathologist doctor Thomas Young,

19:14 the former chief Medical examined in Kansas City, Missouri, we viewed the cage of the requests of Melissa's post conviction attorney. He concluded that doctor Farley appeared to have jumped to wrong conclusions. In a similar case of Manuel Valez, a man who was initially convicted for murdering a one year old baby and whose death sentences overturned after further investigation, doctor Farley's conclusions had also been contradicted by other medical experts. Before I tell you what was happening with her, right now, let me put this into your brain, Sales, I think it still remains that we as parents would do anything for our children, even if that means taking the fall for them. So the reason I say that is because Melissa has an older daughter and her name is Alexandra. Alexandra did not like Mariah. She never counted her as one of her siblings because they had two different fathers. Her other children has also stated that Alexandra was not nice to Mariah at all, that she was known to hit Mariah and curse at Mariah and do mean things. In this documentary, Alexandra even says herself

20:44 that she's hit Mariah before, that she's hit her in the head before, that she's hit her on the limbs before. So the way that this is looking by what she even saying on the documentary herself, is that most likely in action that she took that day. It's the reason why Mariah is along with us. She did hit Mariah in the head. Now, was the fall on the stairs something that she did because of the fact that she was trying to cover what she had done. We don't know. They haven't taken her in, they haven't really said that she did anything. But I'm going by what I've seen and what I read and what I watched, and when they bring this up to Melissa on the documunity, if you watch it, I want you to watch her demeanor. She's very hesitant to say anything, and there's a number of people out there that says, well, I think that Melissa is just taking the fall for Alexandra. Her life has already been lived. She doesn't want to do this to her, even if Alexander did it. She's not really coming out with that. So I know that we as parents will sacrifice our own lives one times for our children. Here's how I see it. As a father myself, I love all my kids.

22:11 I would do anything for either of them. But I was raised by a Southern Baptist woman and she always told me that she goes, I will come and I will walk through Hell's fire for you if I know that you were innocent, but if you did the crime, you're gonna have to do that time. And I carry that in the back of my head every single day when I was younger, and I say that to my kids. Now, I'll go to the ends of the earth for you. But if you go out there and do something stupid, the only thing I'm gonna do, I'm gonna talk to the judge. I'm gonna have to judge, don't kill you, but you're gonna have to as an adult. You're gonna have to deal with that situation. And if it's something you didn't do, you need to say you didn't do it so I can help you get out of whatever the situation currently is. So what's going on with Melissa Lucio right now? As I told you, she was set to die April twenty seventh of this year, we're already in May. She ain't dead, folks, because at that last bewitching hour, the appeals Court granted her to stay. On April the twenty fifth, just two days before she was supposed to be executed. Because there's evidence that they want to reopen and look at. There's things that they don't believe really came out. There's more stuff that needs to be looked at.

23:45 So if you guys know anything about Mexico or the Mexican people, well they're a lot like me and maybe some of you. They are completely one of pose to the death penalty. So the Mexican ambassador to the United States, Estebun Maktazuma, announced on April twenty second that he sent a letter to Governor Abbott asking him to grant executive clemency to Melissa, as Mexico has historically manifested and on the wavering commitment and is opposition to the death penalty. So she got that state. So when closing, let me tell you guys what my belief of this is. If you watch this documentary, if you look at her demeanor, if you look at the interrogation, you will come to the same conclusion I hope that I have. That this woman is on death row for something in which she did not do. The only answer to this problem right now is to let her go free. Do the proper things.

24:53 You should have done at the beginning of this. You should have swabbed that bite. You should have teeth impressions and mass them to the skin. You should listen to the other people that was there. Let me tell you something, folks, I know because I've been in this situation. He was gonna run around and go, well, the kids were scared, and they said whatever they wanted to say. I'll give you that. But you know what, the moment that those kids realize that if their mom was that horrible to them, and she's locked up, and you've got people that can prove she's locked up and she ain't never getting out, you start to seeming like a bird. I did when I knew that my father could not hurt us anymore.

25:37 Any question you ask me, I'm gonna tell you. But all of these kids that they talked to, if you look at them, they lined up one by one, you can tell they were unrehearsed. One dude is like, man, I just want to see my mom. After he's telling them, no, this didn't happen this way, and this is how it goes. No one's listening to Melissa. I do believe by her own confession her daughter is the reason why Mariah is no longer here. I believe she did kill Mariah, although I don't believe that it was intentional. I just think she got too carried away and it ended up the way they did, unfortunately with a rider and longer being here. The bruises that was on her body, some were old, some were new. Supposedly according to some of the things I read and what some of these children has said, these were bruises that was put upon her by Alexandra, and that Melissa was nowhere around when these things were happening. They do show you, guys, the stairs and where the child did fall. If those stairs are pretty steep, they they've caught closed them off. Now if you hit your head the right way coming down them, I can't see where two contusions will happen. But they also can tell if you die because you fell down the stairs or somebody hit you, like with a bad upside the head, and from the way her skull look, somebody hit her. So my final thoughts on this is they need to do further looking into that her interrogation was unfair. She was forced

27:11 into a confession. She was also forced to admit that she spent her child harder than what she actually did. All of that's right on videotape. Police should be ashamed themselves when they just want to bring some out of you and this is the only way that they can do it. Let's not to forget again. This case was coming up during the reelection phase of the district attorney, who also turned out to be cricket because he's accepting briberies and kickbacks. You add all that up to me that says we need to go back, re look at the evidence and give her a new trial, which he has so now hopefully after this Melissa Lucio will go free. All right, guys, So I thank you for tuning into this one with me. I hope you enjoyed it as much as you could. I know it feels weird to be that Geneva's not here. So my shout out session today is just simply to say thank you guys for bringing with us. Thank you for all you guys do and have done. I won't talk to you guys before then.

28:18 So to all the moms out there, I'm gonna say Happy Mother's Day. If your mother is still here on this earth, please go to her this Mother's Day, give her a hug. If you are at odds with your mom, find a way to make that right. I know that all situations can't be made right, but if your situation can take it from somebody whose mom is no longer here. If you guys a long time listeners to the podcast, you know that Geneva and I lost both of our moms in twenty twenty six months apart. So this Mother's Day, we wish we could go to our moms and hug her. So I'm asking you guys to do that for as. If your mom is here, please go show your mom some love, because unfortunately they're not going to be here forever and we never know when that time will come. All right, guys, we thank you for tuning into this episode. We know that you have many, many options in true crime podcasts. We are just grateful that for now the last four years, you guys have chosen us as one of them. I hope all you guys out there is being safe, be good to yourself and to each other, and as always, don't commit the crimes out there so you don't end up on our podcasts. Thank you for listening to a Day with Crime artwork

29:49 created by Geneva mcclan. Sound mixing and editing done by David the Clan. Join us on our website www dot a David Crime dot com, an email us at A Day with Crime at gmail dot com, where you can subscribe, learn ways to support the show and get access to our social media networks. Thank you for listening and for your support, and, as always, a Crime to Day keeps the Doctor away until next time.