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The truth that Ms. Lucio is on dying row in any respect is an outlier. It’s uncommon for prosecutors to hunt the dying penalty in a case the place a mom has been charged with killing her youngsters, her attorneys mentioned.
One subject her attorneys are elevating is the authorized provision — distinctive to Texas — below which prosecutors should show an individual’s “future dangerousness” as a way to safe a dying sentence. Ms. Lucio didn’t have a historical past of appearing violently earlier than Mariah’s dying, so prosecutors relied closely on disciplinary data from her time behind bars after her arrest. Ms. Lucio’s attorneys have argued that the prosecution misrepresented these data and that she had not engaged in important misconduct.
Ms. Lucio, who lived within the border metropolis of Harlingen, struggled to offer for her massive household. On the time of Mariah’s dying, she was pregnant with twins and already had 12 youngsters.
She had part-time work as a house well being aide, her attorneys mentioned, however struggled with drug dependancy and sometimes relied on soup kitchens for meals. At one level, the household was homeless and dwelling in a park. Little one Protecting Providers took her youngsters from her for a time due to neglect, however her attorneys mentioned Ms. Lucio had no documented historical past of abusing her youngsters.
On the time of Mariah’s dying in 2007, Ms. Lucio lived with Mariah’s father, Robert Alvarez, and 9 youngsters; the household had simply moved into a brand new house. The police interviewed each Mr. Alvarez and Ms. Lucio, however her attorneys mentioned they approached Mr. Alvarez a lot in a different way, treating him extra as a witness than a suspect. He was finally convicted of a a lot lesser cost of inflicting harm to Mariah by omission — by failing to hunt medical take care of her — and sentenced to 4 years in jail.
Of their interrogation instantly after Mariah’s dying, the police accused Ms. Lucio of beating her daughter to dying. Prosecutors pointed to bruises on Mariah’s physique and an untreated damaged arm as proof of abuse.
However from the beginning, Ms. Lucio maintained her innocence, saying her daughter had fallen down a flight of stairs because the household was shifting out of an house two days earlier. Her attorneys have introduced skilled testimony that the bruising may have been attributable to her fall down the steps, and that damaged arms are usually not unusual in younger youngsters liable to falls. Mariah had a medical historical past of falling, together with at day care, and no file of prior bruises, the attorneys mentioned.
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