Judge Arturo Nelson said there was clear and convincing evidence that the death of Lucio’s 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, was caused by a fall.

Efforts to free Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, were significantly bolstered after a judge concluded that she is “actually innocent” of capital murder.

Melissa Lucio was two days away from being put to death in Texas for the murder of her 2-year-old daughter when an appeals court intervened in 2022. Now, a judge says Lucio never committed the crime at all.

Efforts to free a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter have received a significant boost. A judge has concluded that Melissa Lucio is “actually innocent” of capital murder and her conviction and death sentence should be overturned.

A death row inmate convicted of killing her toddler daughter is “actually innocent” of murder and should be freed from custody, the prisoner’s trial judge said in documents unearthed on Thursday.

A Texas death row inmate was deemed “actually innocent” by a judge who recommended her capital murder conviction be overturned as new evidence affirmed her daughter died from an accidental fall. Melissa Lucio,

Lucio has been on death row in Texas since 2008. In 2022, the state Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution in the case. The Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the original trial court to consider whether Lucio was actually innocent and whether state prosecutors had presented false testimony and hidden evidence from the defense.

Melissa Lucio may be set free after findings that prosecutors withheld evidence that her 2-year-old died of an accidental fall.

The court granted a temporary stay in October, halting the execution so it could consider the request by the legislators. But that stay was vacated on Friday, which means the execution can move ahead.