Defense attorneys AND prosecutors for death row inmate Melissa Lucio say evidence was suppressed that would prove 2-year-old daughter's death was an accident

Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, had evidence suppressed at her murder trial.

Both prosecutors and Lucio's attorneys released a statement saying as much Tuesday, in a case that has received attention nationwide, including from the likes of Kim Kardashian, Amanda Knox and Texas Republicans.

As part of an agreement on findings in Lucio´s case, prosecutors and her attorneys say the suppressed evidence, including witness statements and a report by Child Protective Services, would have corroborated Lucio´s defense that her daughter Mariah died of a head injury sustained in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before her death.

'She would not have been convicted in light of the suppressed evidence,' according to the 33-page agreement between the office of Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz and Lucio's attorneys. 

The document lays out what both sides say are agreed findings of fact and conclusions of law in the case.

Melissa Lucio, a Texas woman whose execution was delayed in 2022 amid growing doubts she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter, had evidence suppressed at her murder trial

The agreement, which recommends that Lucio´s conviction and death sentence be overturned, is being called unusual and extraordinary by one death penalty expert.

But it has remained in limbo for 16 months before a Texas judge, who has yet to say whether she will give it her approval and forward it to the state´s highest criminal court, which would make a final decision.

Lucio, 55, had been set for lethal injection in April 2022 for the 2007 death of her daughter in Harlingen, a city of about 71,000 in Texas´ southern tip. 

But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stayed her lethal injection two days before her scheduled execution so state District Judge Gabriela Garcia could review Lucio's claims that new evidence would exonerate her.

Prosecutors had long maintained Mariah was the victim of abuse and noted her body was covered in bruises. 

In a sometimes contentious hearing with Texas lawmakers two weeks before the scheduled execution, Saenz had said he disagreed with claims from Lucio´s attorneys there was new evidence that would exonerate her.

But in a joint statement with Lucio´s attorneys that was issued Friday, Saenz acknowledged her legal team 'did not have access to information favorable to her defense at the time of trial.' 

Saenz was not the district attorney at the time of Lucio´s trial in 2008.

As part of an agreement on findings in Lucio´s case, prosecutors and her attorneys say the suppressed evidence, including witness statements and a report by Child Protective Services, would have corroborated Lucio´s defense that her daughter Mariah died of a head injury sustained in an accidental fall down a steep staircase two days before her death

The agreement, which recommends that Lucio´s conviction and death sentence be overturned, is being called unusual and extraordinary by one death penalty expert

Esperanza Treviño, Melissa Lucio's mother, pleas to the public as she is surrounded by family and friends on the steps of the Cameron County Courthouse Administrative entrance in Brownsville, Texas in 2022

The statement did not provide more information on why the favorable evidence wasn´t given to Lucio´s lawyers. 

Saenz´s office and Lucio´s attorney, Vanessa Potkin, declined to comment beyond their joint statement.

'We are grateful to District Attorney Saenz for recognizing that evidence that our baby sister Mariah´s death was an accident, not a murder, was never presented to the jury. We are also thankful to Melissa´s legal team. We hope and pray that our mother can soon come home to her family,' Lucio´s son, John Lucio, and his wife, Michelle, said in a statement.

The suppressed Child Protective Services report indicated that one of Lucio´s children told a CPS worker he was present when Mariah 'fell down some stairs.'

The report also revealed all of Lucio´s children told the CPS worker their mother was not abusive to them or Mariah.

The agreed findings also say Lucio´s trial attorneys were not provided statements from two of her other children, who had corroborated to Harlingen police their mother´s claims that Mariah had been injured in a fall and that Lucio had grown increasingly worried about Mariah´s deteriorating health before her death.

Prosecutors provided the suppressed evidence to two experts, including a forensic pathologist, who 'concluded that the likely cause of Mariah´s death was an accidental fall resulting in head trauma,' according to the agreed findings.

Saenz and Lucio´s attorneys submitted their agreed findings to Garcia on December 20, 2022. 

The agreed findings also say Lucio´s trial attorneys were not provided statements from two of her other children, who had corroborated to Harlingen police their mother´s claims that Mariah had been injured in a fall

Prosecutors provided the suppressed evidence to two experts, including a forensic pathologist, who 'concluded that the likely cause of Mariah´s death was an accidental fall resulting in head trauma,' according to the agreed findings

Robert Alvarez, Michelle Lucio and her husband John address a crowd in 2022 demanding Melissa be freed

But she has yet to issue a ruling and forward her decision to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which makes the final decision.

Garcia did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the time Garcia is taking to issue a ruling suggests the judge is 'giving this case the serious, thoughtful consideration it deserves.'

Maher, whose nonprofit group takes no position on capital punishment but has criticized the way states carry out executions, called the agreement between Saenz and Lucio´s attorneys 'quite extraordinary' and 'one of those rare instances where both sides have acknowledged an injustice and agree about the remedy.'

'I have long maintained that the system failed Melissa Lucio - and her daughter, Mariah - at every turn and that she should be given a new chance for justice ... and a new chance for life,' Leach said in a post Sunday on the social platform X.

If put to death, Lucio would be the first Latina executed by Texas since 1863, and the first woman the state has put to death since 2014.

After reading about Lucio's case, Kardashian tweeted in 2022: '[Lucio] has been on death row for over 14 years for her daughter's death that was a tragic accident.

'Her 2-year-old daughter Mariah fell down a flight of stairs and two days later passed away while taking a nap.

A wave of celebrities and politicians are now weighing in on the case, begging the parole board to reconsider Melissa's sentence 

State Reps. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, left to right, Brad Buckley, R-Killeen, and Jeff Leach, R-Plano, arrive for the Interim Study Committee on Criminal Justice Reform hearing about death row inmate Melissa Lucio at the Capitol. They have all called for the execution to be stayed 

In this 2007 video interview tape, Lucio is shown acting out how she 'beat' Mariah to death. Her attorneys say it was a coerced confession after five hours of interrogation. She was pregnant at the time with twins 

'After she called for help, she was taken into custody by the police. [Lucio] is a survivor of abuse and domestic violence herself and after being interrogated for hours and falsely pleaded guilty.

'She wanted the interrogation to be stopped, but police made her words out to be a confession.'

'She is scheduled to be executed on April 27 in Texas,' the reality star added, as she urged the public to sign a petition by the Innocent Project in an effort to press Governor Abbott to stop Lucio's execution.

More than half the members of the Texas Legislature have asked that her execution be halted. A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers traveled this month to Gatesville, where the state houses female death row inmates, and prayed with Lucio.

Five of the 12 jurors who sentenced Lucio and one alternate juror have questioned their decision and asked she get a new trial.

Lucio's cause also has the backing of faith leaders and was featured on HBO´s 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.'

Her family and supporters have been traveling throughout Texas and holding rallies and screenings of a 2020 documentary about her case, 'The State of Texas vs. Melissa.'

DailyMail.com has reached out to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for comment.