A state appellate court granted a request from lawyers representing death row inmate Melissa Lucio on Monday (April 25) to halt her execution that was scheduled for Wednesday (April 27), according to a report from Austin ABC affiliate KVUE.
Lucio, a South Texas native, was convicted and sentenced to death for killing her two-year-old daughter in 2007.
The appellate court approved the stay just before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) was to consider whether Lucio should be granted clemency, according to the Associated Press (AP), Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.
Tivon Schardl, an attorney representing Lucio, said that her family is "relieved and grateful" for the court's decision, according to KVUE.
"And we believe the court honored Mariah’s memory because Melissa is innocent," Schardl said, the station reported. "Melissa is entitled to a new, fair trial. The people of Texas are entitled to a new, fair trial. Texans should be grateful and proud that the Court of Criminal Appeals has given Melissa’s legal team the opportunity to present the new evidence of Melissa’s innocence to the Cameron County district court."
According to the AP, KTRK reported, about half of the jurors who moved for Lucio to be executed more than a decade ago also have called for the state to afford her a new trial.
The stay was welcome news to the state legislators who fought to keep Lucio alive as new evidence is to be considered.
"Just received word the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has granted a stay of #MelissaLucio’s execution – remanding vital issues back to the trial court and securing justice for Melissa and for Mariah and the entire Lucio family. Praise God!" State Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Plano) said in a tweet.
Rep. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), whose picture of him and a bipartisan group of members of the Texas House of Representatives praying with Lucio went viral, tweeted the court's move "confirms what we’ve said all along."
"[Fifteen] years after trial [and] only [two] days before execution, the CCA has said, ‘She may actually be innocent,’" Moody tweeted. "That timeline and that result is shocking. I’m just so relieved for her."
Lucio expressed gratitude through a statement issued by her lawyers, KVUE reported.
"I thank God for my life," she said, according to the statement. "I have always trusted in Him. I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren."
Lucio added that she'll use her time to help bring them to Christ.
"I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf," she said.