Kim Kardashian helps prove innocence of mother on death row

A Texas mother, sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering her daughter, was exonerated by a judge Thursday after the discovery of new evidence and the intervention of Kim Kardashian.

Melissa Lucio, a mother of 14 who lived in Brownsville, Texas, was arrested in 2007 after the death of Mariah Alvarez, her 2-year-old daughter. The child had a purple complexion and was inanimate when she was found at the family home.

Since her murder conviction in 2008, Melissa Lucio, with the help of several lawyers and reality TV star Kim Kardashian, has tried to assert her innocence by claiming that the girl died after falling down the stairs and that prosecutors had built their argument on false testimony.

Judge Arturo Nelson finally ruled, affirming that the mother was innocent and had not killed her daughter, according to documents consulted by the KPRC channel.

The latter was able to determine that the testimony of the doctor, who had concluded that the child had died as a result of injuries caused “by intentional abuse committed in the 24 hours preceding her death”, was false and that the perception of the police investigator, who had noted signs of guilt in the suspect’s non-verbal language during her interrogation, was incorrect.

Prosecutors had argued that little Mariah had numerous injuries on her body when paramedics tried to resuscitate her on February 17, 2007.

Among them were bites and scratches.

During questioning, the mother admitted that her daughter began having “worrying symptoms” two days before her death. The child had become lethargic and was vomiting profusely. Melissa Lucio and her husband did not seek medical help. The woman also admitted to slapping, pinching and biting little Mariah, while denying causing her death.

Child Protective Services then removed custody of eight of Lucio’s children, with at least one claiming to have seen Mariah fall. Since then, ten of his children have actively campaigned for his release.

The case will now be heard by the Texas Court of Appeals which will decide Melissa Lucio’s case.