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Antoinette Renee Frank (born April 30, 1971) is a former officer of the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) who, on March 4, 1995, committed a violent armed robbery at a restaurant which resulted in the killing of two members of the Vietnamese-American family who ran the establishment, and fellow NOPD officer Ronald A. Williams II. In 2007, Melissa Lucio 's 2-year-old daughter, Mariah, died after a tragic, accidental fall down a flight of stairs. Serving Time 45m Years after leaving the military, Toby Gregory claims his service and PTSD caused him to murder his wife, Inez. Then 42-year-old Maureen McDermott was a former nurse at County-USC Medical Center who allegedly hired a co-worker to kill her male roommate. [2] Carty studied pharmacology at the University of Houston. [9][28][10] The British government filed an amicus brief in her support. Brenda was a good student who always earned above-average grades. Frank believed Williams was shortchanging her on hours and pay at the Kim Anh, and wanted revenge. Their decision, made public November 25, 2008 effectively voided the death warrant signed by Judge Marullo in September. On the surface, she checks all the boxes of the ideal culprit. On 26 February 2010, Carty appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the British government filed an amicus curiae brief. Death Row viewers divided over mum's guilt as dances on sons' grave US prisons are filled with countless Melissa Lucios. On May 22, 2007, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled 52 that the death penalty should be upheld. [7] Carty wrote out what she wanted the letter to say, and Hernandez copied it. Lawmakers are saying this would add more pain to Lucios family, after already suffering the death of Mariah 15 years ago. Lucio's case was the subject of a 2020 documentary, The State of Texas vs. Melissa. That is why most poor defendants accept plea deals even if theyre innocent. The State of Texas authorized the use of the electric chair in 1923, and ordered all executions to be carried out by the state in Huntsville. This film not only depicts the America of the less fortunate, but also the fate of a woman who was a victim from the day she was born, a woman who has been crushed by the American judicial system., Confined behind a glass partition, wearing white prison garb, her face washed out in the artificial lighting, Melissa appears stunned: I dont understand how the court system did this to me. Further on she comments: I had never been arrested before. Peer into the lives of five of these women as they grapple with the challenges and horror of living in one of the most terrible places imaginable. Harlingen woman faces April execution for daughter's 2007 murder Melissa Lucio: Texas woman on death row receives bipartisan - CNN Although Frank's attorneys had subpoenaed 39 witnesses, they didn't call a single one. Melissas family, and some of her children, felt so railroaded by the justice system, they didnt trust anyone anymore. The director further explained that Melissas children have been placed all over Texas. [26], On March 6, 2022, in the main segment of an episode of the HBO show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver called "Wrongful Convictions", her case was the main one to be mentioned as a reason for the reform of the American justice system and specifically, the abolition of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). [11], In 1993, a year and a half before the murders at the Kim Anh, Frank's father had stayed at her home for a time before she then reported him missing. Women On Death Row / By mycrimelibrary.com / georgia death row, tiffany moss, women on death row Tiffany Moss was sentenced to death in Georgia for the starvation death of a ten year old girl. According to the release, Melissa Lucio is the first Latina sent to death row in Texas. She has maintained her innocence, and Cornell Law School professor Sandra Babcock has called the prosecution "by far the weakest capital case I've ever seen". His main tip-off had been using Williams' Chevron credit card at a Chevron station in Gretna just minutes after the robbery and murders. We decided to follow five of them. Despite the defense's arguments, Lucio was found guilty of capital murder and later sentenced to death in 2008. In November 1995, a month after she received her first death sentence, a dog led police to find a human skull with a bullet hole buried under Frank's house. Hanging was means of execution from 1819 to 1923. They said that the evidence against Lucio is troubling and that they at least want a stay of execution. She had scattered bruising, bite marks on her back, patches of hair that had been pulled out, and a broken arm. The first is accused of kidnapping and killing her neighbor to abduct her baby. In an interview for a documentary broadcast by the UK's Channel 4, The British Woman on Death Row (November 28, 2011), the United Kingdom's Consul General in Houston at the time, Paul Lynch, stated that this breach:[32]. According to the warrant, Frank was scheduled for execution by lethal injection on July 15, 2008. "[24], On April 25, 2022, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution and ordered the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County to consider new evidence of Lucio's innocence in the death of her daughter. A Mother's Love 49m In prison for killing her husband, a woman details her past abuse and her turbulent marriage. Who Is Melissa Lucio, Facing Execution in Texas ITV is looking into the unique story of Linda Carty in a new one-off documentary, British Grandma on Death Row with Susanna Reid. She received a lethal injection at a prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, after a last-minute . Lacaze was arrested and charged later that night. It played at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020, and won best documentary at the Raindance Film Festival. Lacaze had slipped behind Williams and shot him in the neck, severing his spinal cord and instantly paralyzing him. [4] As of 2022, Lucio is being held on death row[14] at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. [26] The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has the option to recommend clemency to the Governor of Texas. According to the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Mariah was found at the home with signs of abuse on her body. Despite this, Frank got a second chance to apply. As of January 1, 2022, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund said there were 50 women on death row across the United States. McDermott is the second woman in California sentenced to death penalty after the state reinstated . [14], Forensic pathologist Dr. Thomas Young, the former chief medical examiner in Kansas City, Missouri, reviewed the case at the request of Lucio's post-conviction attorney. Williams was a colleague of Frank who had been working as the security guard that night to supplement his policeman's salary. Then both Stevens and Frank also jumped into the fray, and the weapon discharged. According to court documents when the girls remains were weighed she weighed in just over thirty pounds. Her brother Rene movingly describes her childhood traumas and problems with addiction. Carty appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lisa Montgomery - the only female inmate on federal death row in the US - has been executed for murder. It will only bring more pain and suffering, said State Rep Joe Moody. But Inez's family believes otherwise. Parking in the rear, Frank entered through the restaurant's back door and made her way through the kitchen to the dining room, where Chau waited for help at the front door. Dive in these women's lives full of horror, hope, death, and love, in one of the most Read all60 women are waiting for their execution on death row. Profile of Death Row Inmate Brenda Andrew - ThoughtCo But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of. Only . Lucio is scheduled to be executed on April 27. Linda Carty and Melissa Lucio are imprisoned in Texas. RELATED: Family of woman on death row claims she's innocent, pleads for her release. On March 22, 2022, ITV broadcast British Grandma on Death Row with Susanna Reid, in which Carty continued to protest her innocence. [22][23][24][25] However, on May 3, 2010, the Court refused to review the case, denying certiorari. Officials set her execution date for April 27. Frank then told the man that "Lacaze was the good guy" and that Wallace was the one causing the problems. Then, she shot Cuong six times. I was wrong", "I am sending a letter to Governor @GregAbbot_Tx", "Texas death row prisoner Melissa Lucio granted stay of execution", "Hulu Acquires U.S. Rights to Tribeca Documentary, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Melissa_Lucio&oldid=1139933110, Articles with failed verification from December 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 February 2023, at 16:02. While some of them hope to have their cases reviewed. Frank's attorneys introduced the testimony of psychiatrists who said that possible traumatic events in Frank's childhood could have affected her behavior at the time of the murders and she may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In at least three of those cases, evidence suggests that no crime occurred; the children died of medical conditions or accidents, not homicide. Her father died when she was an infant, and the family moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where her mother had grown up, when she was a toddler. Additionally, court documents state that the emergency room physician said he had not seen a case of child abuse worse than Mariah's. Esperanza Trevio, surrounded by family and friends, asked for the release of Lucio, her daughter, who is scheduled to be executed in April in Texas. The Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Butlers conviction in 1992.Rodricus Crawford was convicted and sentenced to death in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, on charges that he had smothered his infant son. Frank was taken to police headquarters for additional questioning, where she later confessed to the crimes along with Lacaze. Carty has appealed her conviction,[6][7][8] with her most recent petition to the United States Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari being denied by the Supreme Court on November 13, 2018. [35] In November 2013, Carty's story was profiled on Investigation Discovery's documentary series Deadly Women, in an episode titled "Untamed Evil.". The NOPD was chronically short-handed; at the time, its officers were paid less than in similarly sized cities, it was losing officers faster than they could be replaced, and the ranks had been decimated by several arrests for murder and drug activity. January 18, 2020 As Williams fell, Lacaze continued to shoot him in the head and back, mortally wounding him. Kim Kardashian shows support for Texas woman on death row She was scheduled for execution on April 27, 2022. Women on Death Row | Prison DocumentaryBehind Bars: South Cotabato Jail, Philippines: https://youtu.be/A8slYgeqGLwIn the United States, 54 women are "on hold. The California Supreme Court found that his conviction was the product of extensive, pervasive, impactful, and false forensic testimony. The two men got in a car and drove several blocks until a police vehicle pulled the car over. The investigator also questioned Frank about trying to buy 9mm ammunition for Lacaze at Walmart on the day before the Kim Anh murders, but stated that she was a police officer and that there was nothing wrong with her buying ammunition. At times, they thought Frank veered into irrational behavior. This constitutes 1.87% of the total death row population of 2,943 persons.In the past 100 years, over 40 women have been executed. In 2008, Lucio became the first Latina woman sentenced to death in Texas. Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald, via Associated Press Its hard to wake up every morning in the same old ugly cage.Its hard to get along with these people full of rage.Its hard to move ahead when the clock is running slow.Its hard to have so many questions with answers I dont know.Its hard to think Im smart when I have lost everything so fast.Its hard to think about the future when Im still stuck in the past.Its hard to feel their love when my family is so far.Its hard to forget about the mistakes when theyve left so many scars.Its hard to move on when in life I have no role.With everything being toohard, youd think Id just give up.But the only thing about being at the bottom is the only way is up.