HARLINGEN, Texas — For the Lucio family in Harlingen, Texas, the past three months were the worst of their lives — a time during which they rallied and protested all over Texas to save Melissa Lucio’s life. Lucio came within three days of being put to death by lethal injection, but Monday brought tears of joy and relief as the execution was halted by an appeals court.
It was 10 a.m. at the home of Esperanza Trevino, mother of Melissa Lucio. Sitting with her two daughters, Dianne and Sonia, it was breakfast time on a gloomy and surreal morning, after a sleepless night of anticipation for the decision. For them, it was interview after interview as the nation held her breath with them. Trevino couldn’t take it anymore.
“I’m waiting for Melissa. I’m waiting for her. I’m feeling really down," Trevino said.
But right before 1 p.m., the phone rang and the big news they were desperately hoping for finally came. Lucio's execution had been halted. It was a sudden explosion of joy.
“We’re happy. We knew it. We felt it in our heart. We never doubted it. God is good!” said Lucio's sister, Dianne Cerda.
The decision from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals came barely three days before Wednesday, April 27, the dreaded date set for the execution. Sonia Alvarez, another one of Lucio's sisters, couldn’t hold back her tears as she was hugged by friends who were there.
“It’s a miracle, it’s a miracle. Unbelievable! We’re excited!” exclaimed Alvarez, in tears.
Lucio's fate has been in the balance for 14 years. In 2008, she was arrested and accused of murdering her own child, 2-year-old Mariah.
Sunday was Esperanza “Hope” Trevino’s birthday, but all she could focus on was her daughter.
“I want to see her. I want her to come home,” she said.
The Lucio family knows well that there are still battles ahead, as the lower court still has to weigh her innocence and Lucio will get another chance at proving herself not guilty. But for now, she is alive.
“We take what we can get. We’ve always believed that my sister was gonna come home. We still have a ways to go, but we have faith,” said Cerda.
To which her sister Sonia immediately replied: “We want our heart to rest already. We want quiet and we want peace in our family, and I can’t wait to hold my sister!”
Their campaign, “Free Melissa Lucio,” is barely picking up steam, they warn. But that is a thought for tomorrow. Today, there’s nothing but joy at the Lucio home.