Melissa Lucio grew up poor in South Texas, a victim of years of sexual abuse from multiple

offenders in the home.

At age 16, she married her first boyfriend to escape, tying up her self-worth and being

a mother.

So much so that she eventually had 14 children, the final two were twins that Melissa delivered

behind bars after having been accused of allegedly murdering the next youngest sibling,

two-year-old Mariah.

On February 15, 2007, Mariah's older siblings witnessed her take a tumble down the stairs.

Lether G and a lack of appetite were hoped to be symptoms of something less severe than

head trauma, but when she became unresponsive on February 17, they called the MS.

Mariah passed away and an aggressive interrogation ensued, resulting in an admission to an overarching

sense of guilt that most any mother would feel.

The usual bruising from rough play with her siblings was later used to support the

state's theory of a pattern of abuse.

Melissa's conviction would also go a long way to shore up a tough on crime image for a

corrupt district attorney embroiled in a bribery scandal during an election year.

Defying logic and the scientific method the state's forensic pathologist ruled out Mariah's

fall down the stairs as the cause of the failed head trauma.

Further, the children who witnessed the accident and denied the pattern of abuse were not

called to testify.

After trial, Melissa's defense attorney was immediately hired to the DA's office with

a bump in pay.

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