The first instruction hearing of the judicial process that investigates the circumstances of the death of João Pedro Mattos Pinto was held this Monday (5). The 14-year-old was shot with a rifle during a civil and federal police operation in Complexo do Salgueiro, in São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, on May 18, 2020.
The house where he played with cousins and friends was raided by police, who entered shooting, and was marked with 72 shots after the operation. Injured, João Pedro was taken by helicopter by the police and the family only had news about the whereabouts of the body the next day. The agents were serving arrest and search and seizure warrants against members of a criminal faction.
Civil police officers Mauro José Gonçalves, Maxwell Gomes Pereira and Fernando de Brito Meister, all assigned to the Special Resources Coordination (Core), were indicted by the Civil Police in June last year. In February, the Court accepted the complaint presented by the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) and made them defendants for doubly aggravated murder.
Depositions
Judge Juliana Grillo El-Jaick, from the 4th Criminal Court of São Gonçalo, heard eight witnesses yesterday afternoon. The first was the Public Prosecutor’s expert Maria do Carmo Gargaglione, responsible for the technical report of the simulated reproduction of the case. She explained that a scanner state-of-the-art, unique in Brazil.
“O scanner made an accurate photograph of all the rooms in the house and its surroundings. Along with the testimonies of those who were in the house, we cross-referenced information. There was a large concentration of bullet marks in one room in the house,” she explained.
João Pedro’s father, Neilton da Costa Pinto, reported that he was at work, at a kiosk, when he heard about the shooting.
“I arrived at the scene and found five young people on the sidewalk. I asked where João Pedro was and my nephew replied that he had been shot by the police. I only found out what had happened to my son the next day, when I found out that his body was in the IML [Instituto Médico Legal]”, said.
Five teenagers who were with João Pedro and the owner of the house where the crime was committed were also heard. The continuation of the hearing was scheduled for November 16.
