Camilla Jessen
Wrongfully imprisoned woman freed and allowed to stay in US.
A Texas woman who spent more than two decades behind bars for the death of a baby she was babysitting has been cleared of the crime.
Carmen Mejia, 54, was declared “actually innocent” after a judge dismissed the charges related to the 2003 death of a 10-month-old boy.
The ruling followed new evidence showing the child’s fatal burns were likely caused by an accident rather than intentional harm.
According to statements from the Innocence Project and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Mejia had spent about 22 years in prison before the case was overturned.
Deportation concern
Despite her release, Mejia was initially kept in custody because of an immigration detainer tied to the case.
However, the Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the detainer would be lifted.
According to NBC News, The New York Times and Texas Monthly, officials said Mejia would be allowed to remain in the United States following her exoneration.
“Due to her exoneration, she is legally allowed to remain in the U.S. until her Temporary Protected Status expires,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement reported by those outlets.
Mejia originally came to the United States from Honduras in 1995.
Before her conviction, she had legal permission to live and work in the country, according to the Innocence Project.
The 2003 case
Mejia was convicted in 2005 after a 10-month-old boy she was babysitting suffered severe burns in bathwater at her home in Austin.
At the time of the incident, she was caring for the child while also looking after her own four children.
According to the Innocence Project, Mejia was nursing her youngest child while her eldest daughter attempted to bathe the infant.
Investigators later found that the home’s water heater lacked safety features, allowing the water to reach about 147.8°F.
Experts later testified that water that hot could cause severe burns within seconds.
One of Mejia’s daughters, now an adult, also told the court she remembered turning on the faucet while the child was already in the tub.
Case overturned
The medical examiner later reviewed the new evidence and changed the manner of death from homicide to accident.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled earlier this year that the new evidence proved Mejia was “actually innocent.”
Judge P. David Wahlberg then dismissed the indictment.
During the hearing, the judge acknowledged the years Mejia lost in prison.
“There is no amount of money that will ever compensate you for losing the best years of your life,” Wahlberg told her.
“I never lost faith and hope,” Mejia said. “I never lost it in 22 years.”
Sources: Innocence Project, Travis County District Attorney’s Office, NBC News, The New York Times, Texas Monthly
