Melissa Lucio: Child Murderer or Wrongful Conviction? (Part 1)

Who was the Lucio Family?

Melissa Elizabeth Lucio was born in Lubbock, Texas on June 18th, 1969 to single mother Esperanza Correa Trevino. Melissa had two sisters, Sonia and Diane, and at least one brother named Rene. Diane said that Melissa was always a loving person, just had a rough life and a difficult childhood.

Diane and Melissa shared a bedroom as girls, with Diane often standing up for Melissa when Sonya teased her. Diane said that she and Melissa never had arguments, never got into fights with each. She described her sister as quiet, but well-liked. Though Diane remembered the good memories she had with her sister, Melissa said that her childhood was a nightmare. Her mother, Esperanza said that she recalled going into the kitchen once and Melissa, still a child, was crying. Melissa told her mother that her mother’s boyfriend had been sexually abusing her. Her mother was outraged and told Melissa that it wasn’t true, that she should never speak of that again. Esperanza said that she didn’t believe her daughter because she was so young. Melissa claimed that she’d been being sexually abused beginning at the age of 6 and that it never really stopped. 

One of Melissa’s dreams, even at a young age, was to have a family of her own, children of her own. Perhaps in an attempt to escape a childhood where she “grew up not feeling loved”, Melissa got married at the age of 16 with her mother’s permission. She wanted to escape her childhood, but unfortunately, the abuse continued. Her husband was a drug dealer, and was both physically and emotionally, which no doubt continued to affect Melissa’s mental and physical health. She fell into her husband’s habit and became addicted to cocaine. 

By the age of 24, she had five children. Despite the environment she was living in and the abuse she continued to suffer through, being a mother gave Melissa a purpose. When Melissa was just 26 years old, her husband abandoned her and their children. She moved in with a man named Robert Alvarez and ended up giving birth to seven more children and having two miscarriages. According to the kids, Robert, like Melissa’s first husband, was also abusive towards her. 

Sonia, Melissa’s other sister, later said that she believed Melissa felt like she was the black sheep of the family. She lived in run-down apartments with 1 or 2 bedrooms, with very little belongings. Despite everything that Melissa was dealing with, she never complained about her life and never seemed to ask for help from her family. 

Melissa’s drug addiction continued, with three of her children being born with cocaine in their system. Melissa’s brother remembered that sometimes she would lock herself in the bathroom until she was sober, not wanting to let her children see her like that. He said that his sister’s demons took over everything that she had. Though she struggled with substance abuse, one of her daughter’s, Daniella, later said that she always made sure that the kids ate, bathed, and were clothed. 

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was alerted of the domestic violence going on in the Lucio/Alvarez home by the children, as well as a school principal who saw Robert punch Melissa in the face. There are also reports that the DFPS was informed of claims of sexual abuse of the younger children by Robert and one of her older sons. Charges were filed against her son, but nothing was done regarding the domestic abuse. 

While Melissa’s dream of being a mother had come true, things were rarely ever easy for the family. The family had moved 26 times between 1994 and 2007 because they were routinely unable to pay rent. There were even periods where the family lived in a public park. In 2004, Melissa’s seven youngest children were removed by DFPS due to negligence. The report cited that the removal was “deriving primarily from poverty, including a lack of supervision, an unclean home environment, inadequate food, lack of electricity or water, and homelessness.” No reports of abuse had ever been filed against Melissa, except where her children tested positive for cocaine at birth. 

At the time the children were removed, the youngest of the children was Mariah Alvarez, just two weeks old. The children were placed into foster care. During this time, it was found that “Mariah had a physical disability that left her prone to stumbling and falling”. One of her feet was turned more inwards, which left her with a different gait. Melissa reportedly did everything she could to try to get her children back. She went to parenting classes, counseling, and substance abuse classes. She cherished the weekly supervised visits she had with them. 

In January of 2006, Robert was incarcerated again. Feeling safer than she had in a while, Melissa was able to attend rehab and find the support she needed to get sober. She was able to get a job as a home health provider. When Robert was released from prison in October of 2006, Melissa reportedly tried to leave him, but he threatened to kill her if she did. Fortunately, the family was able to move into a three bedroom apartment, with all their children being returned to them in late November.

It wasn’t long before bills went unpaid and Melissa was served with an eviction notice. They found another apartment, but it wasn’t ready to be lived in yet. While the landlord completed repairs, they moved into a second floor apartment.

The Day Mariah Died

On February 17th, 2007, two-year-old Mariah was reportedly watching television with her siblings. The family had spent the past two days moving out of their temporary second story apartment and into, what they hoped, was a more permanent space in a first floor apartment. 

One of Mariah’s older brothers recalled that Melissa was cleaning and folding laundry and that he noticed Mariah was really tired. She’d been sleeping way more than normal over the past two days, as well as had some congestion and a loss of appetite. Melissa considered taking Mariah to the doctor, but the whole family was exhausted from the move, so she decided that it could wait until the following day. Eventually Mariah closed her eyes and went to sleep. The little girl never woke back up.

Shortly after Mariah fell asleep, it was noticed that she wasn’t breathing. The family panicked and immediately called 911. First responders arrived on scene to find Mariah in cardiac arrest. They transported her to the nearby hospital, doing everything they could to resuscitate Mariah, but upon arrival at the hospital, she was pronounced dead. 

No one could understand why a seemingly healthy toddler had gone down for a nap and just never woken up. Melissa told paramedics on scene that Mariah had fallen down a flight of stairs a few days earlier. The paramedic reported being suspicious of Melissa’s story because the apartment they were at was just one story, with only 3-4 stairs out front. One of the responders later said that Melissa wasn’t acting like a mother whose daughter was dead; she wasn’t crying or showing much emotion. They were immediately suspicious that Melissa knew more about Mariah’s death than she was telling them. Their suspicions were relayed to the police.

When Mariah was brought into the hospital, she was found to have significant bruising across her body. This backed up the growing suspicion that Mariah’s death wasn’t caused by a fall, that she was a victim of physical abuse.

What Happened?

Just a few hours after Mariah was pronounced dead, Melissa was brought in for questioning with police. Melissa told investigators that Mariah HAD fallen down the stairs, but it was at their old two-story apartment. This was a flight of stairs that led from the outdoor front porch of the apartment to the ground. It was made of wood, uneven, and appeared to have small pieces missing. There were 14 stairs leading down to the ground. 

Melissa told detectives that on February 15th, two days prior, she was getting things cleaned up and ready to move into their new apartment. After breakfast, several of the children went outside to play, while the other got ready for school. Mariah and Alexandra, an older sister, stayed inside with Melissa. It wasn’t long before Melissa noticed that her two-year-old was gone. She ran outside and saw Mariah laying at the bottom of the wooden stairs. She must have opened up the unlocked front screen door.

Melissa said that Mariah was awake, but crying. She didn’t know whether her daughter had fallen down the entire flight or just part of it. When she picked her daughter up, she saw that she was bleeding from her lip, but didn’t notice any other injuries. This wasn’t the first time Mariah had fallen and gotten hurt. Though she’d been prescribed orthopaedic shoes for her feet, she still fell often. One time she fell at daycare and reportedly lost consciousness and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Melissa was worried that Mariah had fallen, but she didn’t see any reason that she needed emergent care.

It didn’t seem as though the interrogators believed what Melissa was saying. Over the next several hours, five investigators took turns questioning Melissa. Photos of Mariah’s extensive injuries were brought into the room to show Melissa, and they demanded to know what had happened to cause them. The photos showed Mariah’s lifeless body covered in black and blue bruising. 

It’s been asserted that during the 5-6 hour interrogation, Melissa was not given anything to eat or drink, nor was she given access to a bathroom. In one of Melissa’s eventual appeals, it’s written: “Ms. Lucio asserted her innocence more than 100 times, but police refused to accept any response that was not an admission of guilt—suggesting to Ms. Lucio that the interrogation would not stop unless she told them what they wanted to hear.”

At one point, investigators brought a baby doll into the room and asked Melissa to show them how she disciplined Mariah. She showed the investigators how she would spank her on the bottom and the back. The detective continued to urge her to show them how hard she REALLY hit her, even demonstrating on the doll himself b. Eventually, Melissa said to detectives, “I guess I did it”. After that, no further avenues were investigated as to what caused Mariah’s death.

The initial autopsy on Mariah was performed by Dr. Norma Jean Farley, a forensic pathologist. She recalled Mariah’s case as the worst case of child abuse she’d ever seen. There were bruises found everywhere; on her head, under her hair, her neck, chest, bottom, back, and extremities. She noted what she believed to be a bite mark on Mariah’s body. Dr. Farley also recorded that Mariah had a broken arm that hadn’t been treated, which she attributed to prior abuse. Some reports also say that Mariah had hair missing that appeared to have been torn out at the root. Dr. Farley ruled that Mariah had died from a severe head injury, that blood had accumulated in the skull. She also said that “Mariah’s injuries must have been caused by intentional force within twenty-four hours of her death…”

The Trial and the Evidence

The state of Texas charged Melissa with capital murder of Mariah, asserting that they had plenty of evidence that pointed to Melissa having knowingly caused her daughter’s death. Her trial began on June 30th, 2008.

One of the first and biggest pieces of evidence presented for the prosecution was Melissa’s “confession”. During the interrogation by investigators, Melissa had “vaguely” admitted that she caused Mariah’s death. This was only admitted after hours of her denying that she’d intentionally hurt her daughter. The court viewed about three minutes of the hours-long interrogation video (without the jury present) and determined that Melissa clearly understood her rights and that her confession was not coerced. Melissa’s defense attorney, Peter Gilman, never attempted to suppress her statement, nor did he present any information to show that she’d been under duress at the time of the confession.

Part Two Next Week!