#377: Her Name Was Mariah Alvarez - Part 1

Real Crime Profile

Real Crime Profile / Wondery

True Crime, Society & Culture, Exhibit C, Documentary

4.2 • 10.5K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2022

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Harlingen, Texas on February 17, 2007, two year old Mariah Alvarez died of blunt force trauma to the head. Her small body was covered with bruises, possible bite marks, her arm had a spiral fracture and her spine and internal organs had also been injured. Mariah's mother Melissa Lucio said that Mariah died from an accidental fall down a staircase. Authorities said Melissa beat her own daughter to death. A jury agreed. Melissa received a death sentence in 2008. Fast forward to 2022, with Melissa's execution date approaching, public outcry stayed her death for now. Her defense is asking for a new trial to present evidence that was ignored by her previous counsel. But can we ever get to the truth? Was there fairness in the charge and investigation into Mariah's death? Join us as we analyze this complex and contradictory case.

#HerNameWasMariahAlvarez

#HerNameIsMelissaLucio

#digdeeper

#findthetruth

#victimsmatter

#theStateofTexasvMelissa

#MariahAlvarez

#MelissaLucio

#deathpenalty

#neglect

#capitalmurder

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to Real Crime Profile ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.
0:07.0	There were bruises from head to toe. There were bruises on the face, in the hair, on the chest.
0:16.0	This was the worst case of child abuse I had ever seen.
0:40.0	Obsessed with True Crime. So are we. CBS Realities, the television channel taking viewers to the heart of the most compelling criminal investigations.
0:49.0	Watch every twist and turn from our award-winning True Crime series and documentaries, with fascinating first-hand insights from the experts who were there on the scene.
0:59.0	So pick up the remote and tune in to CBS Reality, with True Crime content every night from 9.
1:05.0	You'll find us on Freeview, FreeSant Sky, or your Virgin Media Player.
1:12.0	She fell all the way down. We're in her first step up there, all the way down here. Imagine the baby fell.
1:19.0	The baby. And did you see her fall or did somebody tell you that that's what happened?
1:25.0	The interview was never presented to the court. And none of those kids ever said that their mom was being up on the line.
1:36.0	Hey everyone and welcome to Real Crime Profile. I'm Laura Richards, Criminal Behavioral Analyst, former New Scotland Yard and Hastere the Podcast Crime Analyst. And I'm joined by.
1:48.0	I'm Clemente, retired FBI profiler, former New York City prosecutor and right producers, CBS's Criminal Minds.
1:55.0	And I am Lisa Zimbetti. I'm the casting director for CBS's Criminal Minds. And I'm a volunteer and fundraiser for Casa, the quarter-pointed special advocacy group.
2:04.0	And today we're talking about a case that first came to my attention when I read a tweet by Amanda Knox. And she wrote that her baby daughter, named Eureka, accidentally rolled off her couch and hit her head on the floor.
2:17.0	And this Laura, you're going to find this out if you haven't already. This is every parent's nightmare. It can just make you absolutely panic and drive you crazy.
2:27.0	But thankfully her daughter was fine. So many babies went and asked it like this happened. You know, they're fine. You think you have this heart-stopping moment where they trip on the playground or fall off his swing.
2:36.0	And then by the time you get to them, they've bounced back like a rubber wall and they're back to playing. But Amanda continued in her tweets that while her own baby girl was fine and life goes on, there was another child, Mariah Alvarez, who accidentally fell down some stairs at her family home and was not okay that she died from her injuries.
2:56.0	And Mariah's mother Melissa Lucio was charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for her murder and her execution was looming. So this just sounded like an incredible miscarriage of justice to me. And it's the first time I've ever heard of Mariah and Melissa.
3:11.0	It just started me, Jim and Laura spiraling down a rabbit hole trying to find as much as I could about the case, you know, reading the case files, watching material and there are just so many contradictions. I can't remember the last time a case had me walking around my house arguing with myself and on the one hand this and on the other hand, that so I just really wanted to get your take on this case.
3:34.0	And so Lucio was said to be executed last month and if not for the public outcry, people like Amanda Knox and her defense team, citing new evidence in her innocence, you know, she would have been.
3:45.0	So I just wanted to hand it over to you to see what your thoughts are.
3:49.0	The execution has been stayed for now. So for those who haven't been following the case and evidence is being looked at in the case files being looked at to decide whether there will be a new trial or not.
	...

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