USA - Texas. Appeals court rejects ruling of innocence for Melissa Lucio

September 24, 2026 - Texas. Appeals court rejects ruling of innocence for Melissa Lucio 

A woman on death row for 18 years

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Thursday, September 24, rejected a ruling that a woman on death row for 18 years is innocent of capital murder in the killing of her 2-year-old daughter in a case that attracted bipartisan calls from lawmakers and celebrities to release her from prison.

The sharply divided decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals leaves Melissa Lucio on Texas’ death row, where she narrowly escaped execution in 2022 when the same court ordered a review of her case two days before her scheduled lethal injection. Lucio’s attorneys said Thursday they will now appeal her case to federal courts.

Lucio, 58, was convicted of capital murder in the death of her daughter, Mariah, after the child sustained severe head trauma that prosecutors said came from abuse.

Efforts to get Lucio’s conviction overturned focused on claims that the child wasn’t beaten but was injured in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before she died. They were bolstered when the appeals court ordered the trial court to review some of her claims. Her original trial judge then issued a 62-page ruling in 2024 that concluded Lucio was “actually innocent” of capital murder.

Prosecutors had long maintained Mariah was the victim of abuse and noted her body was covered in bruises. But the trial judge’s ruling on Lucio’s innocence also determined that prosecutors presented false testimony, suppressed evidence and that new scientific evidence that was not available during Lucio’s 2008 trial undermines and contradicts evidence presented by the state. Prosecutors had conceded during Lucio’s appeal that they had withheld material evidence in her trial.

But the majority opinion issued by the all-Republican appeals court on Thursday said the judge’s ruling relied too heavily on Lucio’s interpretation of events of the case and not the prosecution. The five-judge majority opinion was unsigned, and four judges dissented.

Many lawmakers and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, an advocate for criminal justice reform, and Amanda Knox — an American whose murder conviction in the death of a British student in Italy was overturned — had rallied to Lucio’s cause.

Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project and one of Lucio’s attorneys, said her legal team will appeal beyond state courts.

On Lucio’s case see also HoC 09/07/2008, 29/07/2019, 09/02/2021, 28/03/2022, 29/03/2022, 11/04/2022, 14/04/2022, 25/04/2022, 11/04/2024, 12/04/2024, 18/04/2024, 14/11/2024 and 24/04/2026.