Prosecutors say the now-53-year-old abused her daughter, Mariah, while Lucio maintains that her death was a result of injuries sustained from falling down a flight of stairs outside their Texas home. Lucio’s defense team has pointed out many issues in the case that suggest Lucio never got a fair trial. In a now-deleted tweet, Kardashian described the crime as a “tragic accident.” However, some of Lucio’s children have spoken out, insisting that their mother is guilty.
Melissa Lucio’s daughter claims that her mother abused Mariah.
Selina, the fifth of Lucio’s 14 children, initially came forward on TikTok back in 2021 after the release of “The State Of Texas vs. Melissa,” a documentary on Hulu that covers the case and Lucio’s fight to have her conviction overturned. RELATED: Oklahoma Gov. Grants Clemency To Julius Jones Hours Before Scheduled Execution Amid Public Pressure According to Selina, the documentary mischaracterizes the accusations against Lucio and adds to the belief that Lucio is innocent. Selina believes her mother is guilty.
On February 17, 2007 Mariah Alvarez was found unresponsive in the family’s home.
Paramedics were called and Lucio was quickly taken in for questioning about the death of her youngest child. Five of Lucio’s children were not living with her at the time of Mariah’s death. Some of the children living with Lucio were previously taken from the home by Child Protective Services and placed into foster care when Mariah was three weeks old, in 2004. According to documents filed in the Texas Criminal Court Of Appeals in 2011, the children were found in “unsafe” conditions with scratches and insect bites. They were returned to Lucio three months before Mariah’s death.
Melissa Lucio’s daughter claimed, on TikTok, that this is when the abuse began.
Selina says that Lucio was, “not abusive to all of us. She started abusing only my sister, Mariah.” She says in another video that she never witnessed physical abuse, only her mother pinching Mariah or excluding her but says she later became aware that other physical abuse was happening. Selina recalls her mother excluding Mariah, keeping her separate from her other children on a number of occasions. She claims bruises found on Mariah’s body were consistent with rings her mother would wear. She also claims three of her older siblings, who have largely stood by Lucio, were not around for the abuse and were living in a different home.
No physical evidence was presented that shows Melissa Lucio abused Mariah.
Selina’s claims contradict the evidence presented in the case. CPS records used in the trial do not evidence that suggests Lucio was abusive. “The State presented no physical evidence or witness testimony establishing that Lucio abused Mariah or any of her children, let alone killed Mariah,” Judge Catharina Haynes wrote on behalf of the seven dissenting judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in response to the State’s scheduling of Lucio’s execution on April 27, 2022. RELATED: 5 Death Penalty Facts That Will Make You Want To Abolish It — Now Instead, those fighting for Lucio to be granted clemency claim she is a survivor of child physical and sexual abuse who was coerced into confessing to Mariah’s murder.
Melissa Lucio reportedly admitted to killing Mariah under duress.
She was interrogated for five hours by armed police officers who reportedly berated her. During the interrogation, Lucio claimed her innocence over 100 times before eventually saying, “I guess I did it,” when asked if she was responsible for Mariah’s injuries. The Innocence Project notes that Lucio was pregnant with twins at the time and was likely overwhelmed and grief-stricken after Mariah’s death. They also claim that Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos had previously been accused of inadequately investigating over 100 claims of child abuse. He is now serving a 13-year federal prison sentence for bribery and extortion.
In the Hulu documentary, Melissa Lucio implies that her daughter Alexandra was responsible for Mariah’s death.
Lucio says she regrets the confession and her advocates suggest that police and prosecutors were wrong to assume that she was the only one in the home capable of abusing Mariah. Lucio that her teenage daughter, Alexandra, may have been responsible for the bruises found on Mariah’s body after her death. A mitigation specialist at trial named Norma Villanueva claims that Alexandra admitted during a family meeting in June 2008 that she “was the reason Mariah fell down the stairs.” In a 2010 affidavit, one of Lucio’s sisters claimed to remember a different conversation in which Alexandra admitted to punching Mariah out of resentment for having to care for her while Lucio and her husband did drugs.
Alexandra denies being involved in Mariah’s death.
In the documentary, Alexandra does not recall these alleged confessions. She also spoke in one of her sister’s TikToks and claimed that blame was placed on her in an attempt to free Lucio. “My mom’s sisters said that she would get a lesser sentence if we said we abused my sister,” Selina adds. Selina claims that none of her other siblings were abusive towards Mariah. “The only person who abused my sister was my mother, Melissa Lucio,” she claims in another video.
Melissa Lucio’s daughter still does not want her mother to be executed.
Though Selina believes her mother is guilty, she does not want her to be killed and says she signed the petition to request clemency for Lucio. “She’s guilty of abusing my sister which led to the death of my sister. I believe that she should be in prison. I don’t want her to be executed,” she says. RELATED: Rumors Swirl That Kim Kardashian May Eventually Run For Office — What A Kardashian Presidency Could Look Like Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.
