Texas court halts execution of Melissa Lucio

Details: The criminal appeals court on Monday granted a request to stay the execution to allow a lower consider the merits of Lucio's innocence claims.

• Lucio's lawyers had also asked the state's pardons and parole board to recommend Gov. Greg Abbott (R) grant Lucio clemency. The board said later Monday that it would not make a recommendation "at this time" in light of the appeals court's ruling.

What they're saying: “I thank God for my life. I have always trusted in Him. I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence," Lucio said in a statement.

• "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," the mother of 14 added.
• "We're as happy as can be. We've been fighting for 15 years or so, and all of this year, and now we're seeing results," Lucio's son, John, said following Monday's ruling.

Background: Lucio was sentenced to death in 2008, a year after Mariah’s death in Harlingen, Texas.

• In 2019, she was granted a new trial, but that decision was overturned by an appeals court.
• The Supreme Court last year declined to review the case. In a court filing at the time, the Texas attorney general's office pointed to an autopsy that found Mariah died from “blunt force head trauma."
• Her lawyers argue she was coerced into a false confession and given an unfair trial during which a medical examiner provided false testimony about Mariah's death.
• Five jurors in the original case now say they have "grave concerns about evidence withheld from them" and support relief, her lawyers said in Friday's court filing.

Go deeper: Melissa Lucio's lawyers petition Texas court for stay of execution

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.