Learn about the case of the execution of Melissa Lucio in Texas 1:40
(CNN) --
Just two days before Melissa Lucio's execution was to take place, a Texas court stayed her Monday and sent her case back for review.
Lucio, a mother of 14 children, has been on Texas death row since 2008, when she was convicted in the death of her 2-year-old daughter the year before.
But she, her family and her attorneys say that she is innocent and that she was wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors at trial argued that Lucio, now 53, was an abusive mother who caused the injuries that led to her daughter Mariah's death.
Lucio's attorneys say those injuries were actually the result of a fall down the stairs outside her family's apartment.
This is what we know about his case and what comes next:
Court of Appeals stays the execution of Melissa Lucio, the only Hispanic woman on Texas death row
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What happened this week in the case
On Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of Lucio's execution, delayed it indefinitely and ordered its trial court to review several relief claims her team had highlighted, including her claim that she is innocent.
The news was celebrated by Lucio, his lawyers and his family, including his son Bobby Alvarez, who told reporters that he and his brothers were trying to decide what to do for Mother's Day.
Lucio learned of the suspension from Texas State Representative Jeff Leach, who, along with a bipartisan majority of the state legislature, has made his case, calling for clemency or a new trial.
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Lucio sobbed Monday at the news that she would not be executed on Wednesday, according to an audio recording obtained by CNN.
"I am grateful that the Court has given me the opportunity to live and prove my innocence," Lucio said in a statement.
"Mariah is in my heart today and always."
Meanwhile, on Monday all eyes were on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which was expected to vote on a clemency recommendation in Lucio's case.
But minutes before the board's decision was anticipated, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued its ruling.
The Board then announced that it would not vote at that time.
Monday's ruling followed months of work by Lucio's lawyers, including those from the Innocence Project, and mounting calls for clemency.
Aside from Texas lawmakers and celebrity Kim Kardashian, Lucio's arguments were also enough to convince at least five of the jurors to come forward publicly to call for his execution to be stopped and for a new trial to be held based on in evidence they never heard.
"That's my mother. I know she's innocent."
Requests for clemency increase a week before the execution of Melissa Lucio
This is how Melissa Lucio's family reacted when her execution was suspended 1:27
What will happen after this with Melissa Lucio?
The appeals court order sends Melissa Lucio's case back to her trial court in the 138th Judicial District in Cameron County, along the border with Mexico in the southern tip of Texas.
The appeals court returned, or remanded, several claims that Lucio raised in a petition for writ of habeas corpus—which requires a public official to show a valid reason for a person's detention—and ordered the trial court to conduct a "background assessment"
The trial court in Brownsville will conduct proceedings to hear evidence of Lucio's innocence, Tivon Schardl, one of Lucio's attorneys and head of the federal public defenders' habeas unit, said at a news conference Monday. in the Western District of Texas.
After reviewing his claims and evidence, the court would make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would ultimately decide whether Lucio will have a new trial.
It is not clear how long the process could take.
"We certainly want Melissa to get her hearing as quickly as possible," Schardl said.
"We can't say exactly how long, but we certainly don't want him to spend one more day than absolutely necessary in prison."
While the process unfolds, she will remain on death row, her legal team said.
The Catholic Church opposes the execution of Melissa Lucio 2:07
Claims to be reviewed by the court
Lucio and his team had filed nine appeals court claims, four of which were returned to the trial court.
Lucio's other claims did not meet legal requirements, the appeals court found, and will not be reviewed.
The four accepted claims:
The first claim argues that no juror would have convicted Lucio had prosecutors not presented false, misleading, and scientifically invalid expert testimony
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That includes the medical examiner who, per Lucio's request, performed Mariah's autopsy, "ignored indications that Mariah's fatal condition had another cause" and testified that the injuries could only have been caused by abuse, with no explored the fall down the stairs two days earlier.
The second statement says that new scientific evidence would prevent Lucio's conviction.
Among her arguments is that Lucio was particularly prone to providing a false confession as a survivor of sexual abuse and domestic violence in her lifetime.
The third claim from Lucio's lawyers says that scientific evidence shows that Mariah was not murdered.
As a result, they argue, in part, executing her would violate constitutional guarantees of the right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
The fourth allegation asserts that the State suppressed evidence favorable to his defense, violating his rights to due process.
Among the suppressed evidence, her attorneys say, are indications that police and prosecutors were aware that other family members were aware of Mariah's fall down the stairs and that no one had described the abuse Mariah allegedly suffered.
CNN has reached out to prosecutors for comment.
Lucio could still be executed
The appeals court ruling does not change Lucio's sentence.
And despite Monday's stay of execution, she still remains on death row, Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, said at a news conference Monday.
The ruling, however, delays Lucio's execution "indefinitely", Potkin said, while Lucio gets his first chance to present new evidence of his innocence in court.
"The bottom line could be that she could get a new trial," Potkin said, "And we're sure... if Melissa were tried again today, she would be acquitted."
Death row
