U.S (UlraViolet) : Tell Governor Greg ABBOTT Melissa LUCIO isn't a murderer.

 

 

Dear friend,

 

 

A Latina, single mother in Texas is facing execution in a week.¹ Add your name to tell Texas Governor Greg Abbott that he must halt Melissa Lucio's execution immediately and grant her clemency!

 

 

 

In 2007, Melissa Lucio's 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, fell down the stairs and died of internal injuries. From the beginning of the investigation into Mariah's death, Texas officials made assumptions that Lucio was an abusive mother and never considered all of the evidence concerning Mariah's death, nor allowed for Lucio to mount a full-fledged defense. Lucio was eventually convicted of murder.²

 

As is typical for women in prison and on death row, Lucio had experienced lifelong sexual abuse and domestic violence, and she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), clinical depression, and battered woman syndrome.^3,4 Texas prosecutors claim that they were able to get Lucio to confess to harming Mariah, but health experts on her defense team say she was most likely coerced to do so as a survival tactic, due to her mental health state and passivity.⁵

 

As survivors and advocates, we know that women have been the victims of this type of coercion before. We've won clemency for sexual violence survivors, including Cyntoia Brown of Tennessee and Tondalao Hall of Oklahoma.^6,7 We can do it again for Melissa Lucio ! 

 

Tell Texas Governor Greg Abbott :  Melissa Lucio is a poor, single, abused mother,  not a murderer.  Grant her clemency immediately !

Sign the petition

 

Lucio's surviving children remain united in defense of their mother. Lucio's 32-year-old son, John, who regularly visits his mother to pray with her, recounted to CNN her struggles as an impoverished single mother. While she regularly lacked stable housing, transportation, and money to pay the bills, she was "a great mother" and "never laid a hand on us."

 

"She is amazing," John told CNN. "That's my mother. I know she's innocent." ⁸

 

In recent weeks, the Innocence Project, Texas legislators from both major political parties, and celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian, have all called for mercy.⁹ Add your name to Lucio's growing list of supporters.

 

 

 

Tell Gov. Abbott to grant Melissa Lucio clemency !

 

Thank you for taking urgent action !

 

 

 

 

Elisa, Bridget, Iris, Isatou, Jaya, KaeLyn, Kathy, Katie, KD, Kimberly, Lindsay, Luna, Maria, Meena, Melody, Shaunna, Sonja, and Toni, the UltraViolet team.

Sources :

 

 

 

 

1. 'That's my mother. I know she's innocent.' Calls for mercy grow a week before Melissa Lucio is set to be executed, CNN, April 20, 2022

2. Ibid.

3. 86 percent of women in jail are sexual-violence survivors, Salon, November 11, 2017

4. 'That's my mother. I know she's innocent.' Calls for mercy grow a week before Melissa Lucio is set to be executed, CNN, April 20, 2022

5. Ibid.

6. Women's Group on Gov. Haslam Granting Clemency to Cyntoia Brown, UltraViolet, January 7, 2019

7. Imprisoned Battered Woman Gets One Step Closer to Freedom, UltraViolet, June 22, 2015

8. 'That's my mother. I know she's innocent.' Calls for mercy grow a week before Melissa Lucio is set to be executed, CNN, April 20, 2022

9. Ibid.

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