Texas | New female death sentence

A South Texas mother convicted of torturing and beating to death her 2 1/2-year-old daughter has been sentenced to die.

Melissa Elizabeth Lucio, 39, of Harlingen will become the 10th woman on death row in Texas. She was sentenced by a jury Thursday and is believed to be the first female given the death penalty in Cameron County.

Witnesses in the 2-week trial testified that Mariah Alvarez was beaten and tortured for months before dying from brain damage in a final violent assault last year.

"I honestly think justice was done," said District Attorney Armando Villalobos.

He said jurors made the right call in spite of living in a largely Catholic community that borders Mexico, which doesn't allow the death penalty. The Catholic Church generally opposes capital punishment.

Lucio wept when witnesses spoke of the brutality the toddler endured, but she showed no emotion when her sentence was read.

Defense attorneys argued that Lucio was poor and suffered from "battered women's syndrome," but Villalobos said they didn't present proof that she was a victim of domestic violence. Regardless, he praised the jury for dismissing that as a plausible reason for her child's death.

In their deliberations, jurors had to decide whether there was a chance Lucio would commit criminal and violent acts that would make her a continuing threat to society and whether life in prison without parole was an option. By choosing the death penalty, the jury sent a message that Cameron County was family friendly and wouldn't tolerate violent crimes, Villalobos said.

For failing to prevent the beatings that resulted in Mariah's death, Lucio's live-in boyfriend will go on trial Aug. 4. Roberto Antonio Alvarez faces a charge of injury to a child by omission and could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Source: Associated Press, Staff, 7/13/2008