Melissa Lucio

Melissa Elizabeth Lucio (born June 18, 1969) is the first woman of Latino descent to be sentenced to death in the U.S. 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 kidneys, lungs and spinal cord. Prosecutors said that Mariah's injuries were the result of physical abuse, while Lucio's attorneys say that her death was caused by a fall down the stairs two days prior.

Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, ''The State of Texas vs. Melissa''. She has maintained her innocence, and Cornell Law School professor Sandra Babcock has called the prosecution "by far the weakest capital case I've ever seen". Lucio's execution was set for April 27, 2022, but an appeals court granted her a stay on April 25, 2022. Provided by Wikipedia