Hull on stay of execution for Melissa Lucio: 'Praise the Lord!'

A Texas state representative from Houston who was among the cadre of legislators to visit with a South Texas mother on death row for killing her young daughter welcomed the news of the state's decision to stay the woman's execution.

Melissa Lucio was scheduled to die on Wednesday (April 27), but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request from her legal counsel on Monday (April 25), per the Associated Press (AP), Houston ABC affiliate KTRK reported.

"Praise the Lord!" Rep. Lacey Hull (R-Houston) said in a tweet.

Hull, whose district consists an area west of Houston, joined a contingent earlier this month that included Reps. Joe Moody (D-El Paso), Jeff Leach (R-Plano), James White (R-Tyler), Toni Rose (D-Dallas) and Victoria Neave Criado (D-Dallas) on a visit to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) facility in Gatesville where Lucio awaited her fate for her role in her two-year-old daughter's 2007 death, the Austin Journal reported. 

Moody's Twitter account shared a picture of the legislators praying with Lucio.

The AP's report said that the appellate court approved the stay just before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) was to consider whether Lucio should be granted clemency, per KTRK.

The panel has the responsibility of telling Gov. Greg Abbott that he grant her clemency.

According to the AP, about half of the jurors who moved for Lucio to be executed more than a decade ago also have called for the state to afford her a new trial.

Lucio expressed gratitude through a statement issued by her lawyers, Austin ABC affiliate KVUE reported.

"I thank God for my life," she said, according to the statement. "I have always trusted in Him. I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren." 

Lucio added that she'll use her time to help bring them to Christ. 

"I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf," she said.