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People across the country gathered this weekend in support of death row inmate Melissa Lucio, who is due to be executed this week.
“We are hopeful. I spoke to Melissa’s son this morning and they are visiting her in Gatesville, “said supporter Carmen Ayala, according to Fox 4. She also hopes, because of all the attention she has attracted. We hope that’s enough to end the 27th. “
Lucio was convicted of the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Mariah in South Texas in 2007. An autopsy found that the young girl had died from a blunt force head injury.
Melissa Lucio (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) (Texas Department of Criminal Justice) sentenced to death
Lucio’s supporters and lawyers say she was the victim of a forced confession that came after hours of questioning by police, with Lucio initially denying killing her daughter more than 100 times, Fox 4 reported. Lawyers added that forensic evidence , who is said to have injured Mariah from falling down the stairs, have never been heard in court. Five jurors in the case also questioned the verdict.
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The case also led to the rare case of Democrat and Republican lawmakers agreeing that she should not be executed.
“It will be a historically irreversible blunder by the state of Texas if we continue to do so,” said Republican Jeff Leach, according to the New York Times. “I have never seen a more alarming case than the case of Melissa Lucio.
Melissa Lucio and US Representative Jeff Leach. (Jeff Leach) (Jeff Leach)
State lawmakers pressured Democrat District Attorney Cameron Louis W. Saenz earlier this month for a hearing to revoke the enforcement order. He refused to intervene.
Lucio worked part-time as a home health assistant and battled drug abuse. Her family was homeless at one point, and child protection services had previously intervened and taken some of her other children away due to negligence. However, Lucio’s lawyers claim that she has no documented history of child abuse, writes the New York Times.
“We are on the verge of sending a woman to be executed on the basis of false and misleading medical evidence,” said Vanessa Potkin, director of special justice in the innocence project, according to the New York Post.
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Sixteen rallies were held across the country on Saturday to raise awareness of the date of her execution in a bid to stop it. Several of the rallies took place in Texas, including Houston, as well as in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Greensboro, Washington, DC and Los Angeles.
Supporters also gathered on a bridge over I-30 in Dallas with a sign “Free Melissa Lucio”.
“We hope drivers see this sign and say, ‘Who is Melissa Lucio?'” Ayala told Fox 4.
Supporters of Melissa Lucio unite against her planned execution (Fox 4) (FOX 4)
Signatures were collected at the rallies to send to the Texas Pardon and Parole Board and Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday to halt the execution.
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Kim Kardashian and Amanda Knox – who garnered international attention after being wrongly convicted of killing her roommate in Italy in 2007 – are among the high-ranking voices supporting Lucio.
Lucio will be the first Latin American woman to be executed in Texas and the first woman to be executed in Texas in 2014.
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An application for pardon is considered by the Texas Pardon and Parole Board. Abbott may suspend execution if a majority of the board votes in favor.
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