A Texas appeals court has delayed the execution of Melissa Lucio, who had been convicted of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death, but whose conviction has been challenged in the face of mounting evidence that the child died of an accidental injury, the Associated Press reports.

Scheduled for execution by lethal injection on Wednesday, Lucio has proclaimed her innocence despite having given a confession after being worn down by seven straight hours of interrogation.  Throughout the interrogation, Lucio declared her innocence, saying her daughter Mariah fell down a stairway two days prior to her death.  One of Lucio’s other children also told police he saw the child fall down the steps after losing her balance trying to walk down the stairs.

Lucio was convicted of the child’s murder despite having no evidence that she ever beat the child.  A cocaine addict at the time of her child’s death, prosecutors used her drug use and her confession after hours of interrogation, when she was exhausted and stressed, to convict her. 

An appeal is also before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which will consider pleas for commutation or at least a 120-day delay in the execution.

Lucio’s case has been highlighted by civil rights advocates because she went through interrogation without a lawyer present, after law enforcement officers repeatedly assaulted her with questions and accusations for which they claimed they had evidence they didn’t have.  Advocates claim that the methods used by interrogators are unethical in that they make the suspect feel that the police are building a strong, fake case against them.