The Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro (TJRJ) decided, this Thursday (12), for a new trial of the murderer of Johnatha de Oliveira Lima, in 2014, in the favela of Manguinhos, North Zone.
In March of this year, the 3rd Jury Court of the Capital had classified the crime as manslaughter, when there is no intention to kill. Unanimously, three judges who participated in the process voted today to annul the Jury Court’s decision.
The date of the next trial has yet to be defined. Johnatha’s mother, Ana Paula Oliveira, calls for the conviction of military police officer Alessandro Marcelino de Souza for intentional homicide (with intent to kill). Today’s decision was a victory for the prosecution.
If the classification of culpable homicide were maintained, there would be a decline in jurisdiction and the case would be transferred to the Military Court. The process and investigations would begin again and the sentence would be decided by military judges.
“There have been ten Christmases without my son. But our fight, mine and that of so many other families, is so that other children don’t have to be absent from the Christmas dinner table. May our children’s killers be held accountable. It’s the minimum, we don’t ask for anything extraordinary. It would be extraordinary to bring our children back. And that is no longer possible. We can no longer bear to live through this pain every day”, said Ana Paula Oliveira (photo, center), upon leaving the trial.
Turmoil
Johnatha was 19 years old on May 14, 2014, when he came across a disturbance between police and residents of the Manguinhos favela. A shot fired by the Pacification Police Unit (UPP) agent, Alessandro Marcelino, hit the young man in the back. He was taken to the Emergency Care Unit (UPA) and died there. The family filed a complaint at the police station and began to press for the investigation to continue.
The boy’s mother, Ana Paula Oliveira, created the group Mães de Manguinhos, alongside Fátima Pinho, who also lost a murdered son. They began to welcome other victims and demand answers from the authorities for crimes committed by agents of the State.
“I thank each family member, even those who are not here today. There were many messages throughout these days when I announced that the appeal would be judged. To everyone who has accompanied me in these 10 years of struggle [digo que] I would never be able to be here if it weren’t for the strength, support, care and affection from all of you. This here today is just a battle that was won, but there is a lot of fight ahead”, concluded Ana Paula.
