The second instruction hearing at the 4th Criminal Court of São Gonçalo of the judicial process that investigates the circumstances of the death of João Pedro Mattos Pinto will be held this afternoon (16). The 14-year-old teenager was shot with a rifle during an operation by the Civil and Federal police in Complexo do Salgueiro, in São Gonçalo, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, on May 18, 2020, during the covid pandemic -19.
THE first hearing took place on September 5, in which eight of the 26 prosecution witnesses appointed by the Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) were heard. Three civil police officers are accused in the process, all assigned to the Coordination of Special Resources (Core). They are Mauro José Gonçalves, Maxwell Gomes Pereira and Fernando de Brito Meister.
They were indicted by Civil police in June of last year and in February, the Justice accepted the complaint presented by the MPRJ and made them defendants for double qualified homicide.
The press will be able to follow the hearing and make an image, with the exception of the image of the defendants.
remember the case
the house where João Pedro played with cousins and friends was invaded by police, who entered shooting, and was marked with 72 shots after the operation. Wounded, 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 served arrest warrants and search and seizure warrants against members of a criminal faction.
João Pedro’s father, Neilton da Costa Pinto, reported at the September hearing that he was at work, at a kiosk, when he heard about the shooting.
“I arrived at the place 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 went to find 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.
