Harlingen, TX (KRGV) — Melissa Lucio's son says his family is still hoping she will be freed after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld her conviction and death sentence.

John Lucio spoke to Channel 5 News for the first time since the Sept. 24, 2026, appeals court decision. He recently spent four hours with his mother during a jail visit.

“Our plans — we always talked about it, like just getting back and reconciling with one another, reuniting the family,” John Lucio said.

The visit was the first in four years. They could not hug or hold hands. A window separated them, and they used a phone to hear each other's laughter while trying to forget the death sentence she faces.

“We couldn’t break down in there, and she held it together. As much as I know she wanted to let it out, she held it in because we just didn't want to show each other that we were scared,” John Lucio said.

Lucio was convicted in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Mariah. Her legal team says the girl's injuries were the result of an accidental fall down the stairs, but prosecutors dispute that.

In 2022, Lucio came within two days of execution before the court stopped it and sent parts of her case back to a lower court for another look.

Judge Arturo Nelson, the same judge who presided over her original trial, conducted that review. Nelson later found new evidence showing Lucio did not kill her daughter and recommended her conviction and death sentence be overturned.

In a review of the case, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Judge Nelson’s recommendation. In a filing, the appeals court said that some of the new evidence that Lucio’s attorneys and the Cameron County District Attorney's Office agreed could have helped Lucio’s defense was not enough to overthrow her conviction.

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John Lucio said he is still holding out hope to be reunited with his mother.

“Every child wants to have their mother around,” John Lucio said. “She’s really strong-minded, and she’s really being very strong about this last response from the court of appeals. But we’ve seen that she was fearful because there's a possibility that they could set an execution date soon.” 

In a statement, Lucio's attorneys say they are pursuing every legal path to try to get her conviction overturned.

No new execution date is set.

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