Carmen Mejia: Woman wrongfully convicted of murder in 2005 stuck in custody due to ICE detainer
Exonerated mother held on ICE detainer
A Travis County woman wrongfully convicted of murder in 2005 has now been officially declared innocent after a decades-long legal battle, but immigration enforcement is now standing in her way.
AUSTIN, Texas - A Travis County woman wrongfully convicted of murder in 2005 has now been officially declared innocent after a decades-long legal battle, but immigration enforcement is now standing in her way.
Carmen Mejia was supposed to walk free Monday after being exonerated; instead she remains in custody under an ICE detainer.
RELATED COVERAGE: Travis County woman accused of murdering newborn in 2005 declared innocent
What we know:
Carmen Mejia was serving three life sentences after being convicted in the 2003 death of a 10-month-old baby.
Prosecutors at the time claimed Mejia submerged the baby in scalding hot bath water and failed to get medical care after.
"This case from the start, the worst was assumed that this was an intentional act. It was decided that a woman who had no criminal history no child abuse, was in the words of a trial prosecutor, had the coldest darkest blackest evil heart that you could have, we could not have been more wrong," said Travis County ADA Collin Bellair.
At the trial the state argued the burn patterns showed the injuries were intentional.
The defense maintained older children who were home had attempted to give the child a bath and that because a hot water gauge was set dangerously high, the baby was scalded when one of them accidentally turned the wrong handle.
In a post-conviction hearing in 2024, Mejia's child testified that they turned the faucet on while the baby was in the bathtub and that Mejia was not in the room.
The medical examiner changed the matter of death from homicide to accident.
Carmen Mejia ruled innocent in 2005 murder case
Carmen Mejia, the woman accused of murdering a newborn in 2005, has been declared innocent.
RELATED COVERAGE: Texas woman's life sentence under review over possible 'junk science' used in conviction
"The proceeding today is an opportunity for the public to see first hand and hear first hand the devastating direct impact of carmen's wrongful conviction as well as the almost tsunami like ripple effect that its had on so many lives of so many people," said Timothy Gumkowski with the Innocence Project, who was representing Mejia.
The bailiff in Mejia's original trial had concerns with the case and brought them to the Innocence Project in 2015.
"I could picture her in that cell in prison knowing that there was no one that was going to help her and she was going to spend the rest of her life there for something I think witnessing the trial that she had not done," said retired bailiff Art Guerro.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Mejia's conviction in January. On Monday, a judge formally exonerated her.
"For more than 20 years, I have never had the chance to talk to my mother about the things daughters normally share with moms asking for advice or simply feeling a mother's unconditional love. I hope I can finally build a meaningful relationship with her," said Mejia's youngest daughter.
Mejia still in custody on ICE detainer
What they're saying:
However, just as Mejia was set to be released, another obstacle emerged.
Her legal team says she is now being held by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office due to a federal immigration detainer. Her attorneys say she lost her legal status because of her wrongful conviction.
"She should have been able to reunite with her children who were taken from her 20 years ago. Ms. Mejia has achieved what is almost the impossible by demonstrating her innocence and obtaining an exoneration and for her now to be detained would just compound the injustice," said Vanessa Potkin with the Innocence Project, who was representing Mejia.
The case comes as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement nationwide.
"Carmen Mejia is innocent. That is what the judge ruled today. But the Trump administration needs to stop detaining and incarcerating innocent immigrants, innocent Americans. Innocent Austinites," said U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas).
What's next:
ICE now has discretion to let Mejia walk free. Within the next 48 hours, she will either be taken into ICE detention or she will be released.
FOX 7 reached out to ICE for more information on this case, but has not received a response.
The Source: Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Jenna King.