Bishop Daniel E. Flores and Auxiliary Bishop Mario A. Avilés will lead a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. Friday, April 22 at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Shrine, for Melissa Lucio, a death row inmate scheduled for execution on April 27.
All the faithful of the Rio Grande Valley are invited to attend and join in prayer.
Bishop Flores, along with all the Texas bishops, appealed to Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, and Gov. Greg Abbott to spare Lucio’s life. (Link to letter: https://txcatholic.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Melissa.Lucio_.3.22.2022.pdf)
The bishops join a broad coalition, including the Innocence Project, domestic violence and battered women’s organizations, former prosecutors, bipartisan legislators and others who call for a stay of execution to conduct a meaningful review of her case.
In a statement released Feb. 22, 2022, Bishop Flores wrote:
Fifteen years ago, the Rio Grande Valley was shocked to hear of the death in Brownsville of Mariah, a two-year-old child. Today, Melissa Lucio, the mother of the child, and now a grandmother, is on death row, awaiting execution for the death of her child. There are many circumstances that cast doubt on Melissa Lucio’s conviction for first-degree murder. Information on this case and on mitigating circumstances surrounding it is readily available for those who want to know more about it.
I want to say a word to the People of the Valley about the pending execution. Death is not the answer to death. One tragedy is not somehow made better by killing someone else. Justice is not suddenly restored because another person dies. Executing Melissa will not bring peace to her surviving children, it will only bring more pain and suffering. I urge the State of Texas to commute Melissa’s death sentence. Let us not give up on her life. I ask everyone to work and pray to end the death penalty in Texas and in this country.
Link to Bishop Flores’ statement: https://tinyurl.com/47cr9fbf .