Melissa Lucio, the state’s lone Latina on death row, was set to be killed on Wednesday, but her execution was postponed until Monday, April 25, 2022, by Texas’ highest criminal court.
The ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals came as the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles was ready to submit a recommendation to Gov. Greg Abbott on whether Lucio’s execution should be postponed.
Lucio’s allegations that her execution should be stopped because new evidence would exonerate her in the killing of her 2-year-old daughter will now be heard by a lower court.
Has Melissa Lucio’s Execution Been Cancelled?
“I am grateful to God for my life.” Lucio said in a statement released by her legal team, “I have always relied in Him.” “I am thankful to the Court for allowing me to live and prove my innocence.” “Today and always, Mariah is in my heart.”
She was one of six women on Texas’ death row, and she was set to be executed by lethal injection; the last woman executed in the state was in 2014.
