The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Monday stayed the execution of Melissa Lucio, a Latina mother convicted of her daughter's death, and ordered a lower court to examine new evidence in the case, which has been questioned both for its family and by legislators and legal experts.
Lucio has been on death row since 2008, convicted of the death of her 2-year-old daughter, a crime she says she did not commit.
The 53-year-old mother of Mexican origin was to be the first Latina to be executed in the state.
For years, the family has led a campaign for a new trial for the Latina mother, which has had the support of numerous organizations and state legislators.
Her defense assures that the woman was forced to plead guilty and that the investigators threatened her, yelled at her and showed her photos of her dead daughter.
The Court requested in its resolution that this accusation of the defense be reviewed,
that she was forced to plead guilty, as well as that there is scientific evidence
that was not available at trial but is now and prevents her conviction, and that the state does not He provided evidence that could have given a favorable sentence to his innocence, according to the ruling.