“Best news ever!!!” Kim Kardashian tweeted on Monday (Apr. 25) after hearing that Melissa Lucio had been given a second chance at life. The 53-year-old woman has been on death row for over 14 years for her daughter’s death that was a tragic accident,” tweeted Kim, 42, who shred a link to KVUE’s story about Melissa’s last-minute reprieve from death. “She is getting a new trial on her case and has been granted a stay of execution by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.”
https://twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1518661521114468353
“I thank God for my life,” Lucio said in a statement released by her lawyers, per KVUE. “I have always trusted in Him. 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. I will use my time to help bring them to Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf.”
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has ordered a court to consider new evidence regarding the case. The execution will be halted as the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County considers the evidence.
Melissa was convicted of capital murder in 2007 over the death of her daughter, Mariah, according to CNN. During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Melissa was an abusive mother who likely caused the injuries that led to the toddler’s death. Lucio’s defense argued that the two-year-old died from falling down a staircase outside the family’s second-floor apartment two days before the girl’s death.
Lucio argued in her habeas application that she is innocent and that new scientific evidence “precluded her conviction,” according to CNN. She argued that the state relied on false testimony and suppressed evidence. “Melissa is entitled to a new, fair trial. The people of Texas are entitled to a new, fair trial,” Tivon Schardl, one of Lucio’s attorneys, said in a statement. “Texans should be grateful and proud that the Court of Criminal Appeals has given Melissa’s legal team the opportunity to present the new evidence of Melissa’s innocence to the Cameron County district court.”
The case caught the attention of the Texas legislature and criminal justice reform advocates like Kim Kardashian. “So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio’s children begging for the state not to kill their mother,” Kim posted to social media on Apr. 6. “There are so many unresolved questions surrounding this case and the evidence that was used to convict her. This is one of the many reasons why I am against the death penalty – and why I pray her children’s wish is granted and their mother’s life is spared.”