Pediatrician Maria Cristina of Souza gave a statement at the 2nd Tribunal of Júri, in the center of Rio of Janeiro, and declared that the boy Henry Borel was admitted to Hospital Barra d’Or with a total absence of vital signs. The statement took place during the third day of hearings in the trial that determines criminal responsibility for the death of the four-year-old child, recorded in the early hours of March 8, 2021. In the dock are former councilor Jairo of Souza Júnior, known publicly as Dr. Jairinho, and the victim’s mother, Monique Medeiros. The healthcare professional detailed the emergency procedures adopted by the team on duty as soon as the patient was admitted to the medical unit. Segundo the report given to Justiça under oath, the initial clinical picture already indicated an irreversible situation even before the resuscitation maneuvers began.
Detalhes of medical care and resuscitation maneuvers
The pediatric emergency protocol was activated in less than a minute after the child arrived at the hospital emergency room. The medical team, made up of Maria Cristina and Souza, immediately noted the lack of pulse and the state of generalized organ failure. Diante due to the extreme severity of the condition, the professionals began administering doses of adrenaline and applied continuous cardiac massage techniques. Attempts to reverse the cardiorespiratory arrest lasted for a period of almost two uninterrupted hours in the red room. The doctor explained to those present in court that, from a strictly clinical point of view, the patient was already technically dead at the moment he crossed the emergency doors.
The length of resuscitation time deviated from the usual standards for cases of total lack of response to medical and medication stimuli. The decision to maintain chest compressions and ventilation for such a prolonged period was due to a factor outside of standard medical protocol. Leniel, the boy’s father, was present at the health unit and made repeated and emotional appeals for the team not to interrupt the rescue efforts. The commotion generated by the father’s request influenced the dynamics of care in the emergency room that morning. Contudo, after exhausting all therapeutic resources available in the hospital structure, doctors needed to formally certify the child’s death.
Identificação of physical injuries during hospital admission
A central point of the pediatrician’s testimony involved observing the general physical state of the boy’s body during the exhaustive rescue maneuvers. Enquanto the team performed cardiac massage and tried to establish venous access, Maria Cristina of Souza identified the presence of multiple purple marks on the patient’s skin. The bruises had different colors and were distributed across different anatomical regions, indicating trauma of varying nature. The professional specifically listed the chest, abdomen, thighs and wrists as the areas where the injuries were most evident to the naked eye during treatment.
The visual observation of these injuries raised immediate questions among the health professionals working on duty. The nature and quantity of the marks did not match the initial report of a simple domestic accident, which generated an alert among the medical team about the real cause of the child’s critical condition. The detailed recording of these injuries in the medical record became a fundamental technical piece for the subsequent police investigations conducted by Polícia Civil. The detailed description given by the doctor in court corroborates Instituto Médico Legal’s expert reports attached to the criminal case.
Alteração in the order of interrogations by court decision
The course of the trial underwent a structural change after a direct intervention by Jairo’s technical defense of Souza Júnior. The former councilor’s lawyers filed a habeas corpus request and obtained an injunction that changes the sequence of hearings provided for in the court’s original schedule. With the new court order, the interrogation of Dr. Jairinho will only occur after the conclusion of Monique Medeiros’s testimony. Judge Elizabeth Louro, responsible for presiding over the session in the 2nd Tribunal of Júri, had denied a similar request made by the defense at the beginning of the procedural instruction phase.
The granting of the injunction at a higher court meets a central argument presented by lawyer Rodrigo Faucz, who represents the former parliamentarian. The defense maintains that the defendant has the constitutional right to fully understand all the accusations and narratives presented by the others involved before formulating his own version of the facts in court. Essa reversing the established order ensures that Jairo listens to his ex-partner’s statements before being questioned by Ministério Público and the judge. The legal maneuver aims to ensure the principle of broad defense and adversarial proceedings within the specific rite of the jury trial.
Estrutura of the accusations made by Ministério Público
The criminal case being processed by Justiça in Rio de Janeiro is based on an extensive complaint prepared by Ministério Público prosecutors. The official document establishes the individual conduct of each of the defendants in the morning in which the child lost his life in the family’s apartment. The prosecution’s thesis points out that Jairo of Souza Júnior carried out severe physical attacks against his stepson inside the property. The accusing body also maintains that the episodes of violence were not isolated events, citing previous events that occurred throughout the month of February 2021 that constitute a pattern of continuous abuse.
The criminal classifications assigned to the defendants reflect Ministério Público’s understanding of the dynamics of the crime and the degree of responsibility of each adult present in the apartment. The imputations were divided according to active or omissive participation in the events that culminated in the death of the four-year-old patient.
Former councilor Jairo of Souza Júnior is responsible for crimes involving direct and violent action against the victim. Formal charges include:
- Homicídio qualified with the aggravating factor of cruel employment.
- Uso resource that made any chance of defense for the victim impossible.
- Três distinct and proven episodes of physical and mental torture.
On the other hand, Monique Medeiros’s legal situation is based on the theory of omission and the legal duty of protection inherent to motherhood. The complaint argues that the mother was aware of her partner’s behavior and did not take the necessary measures to remove her son from the aggressor.
The formal charges against Monique Medeiros in court cover the following criminal categories:
- Homicídio qualified in the mode of omission for a bad reason.
- Conivência with the use of a resource that made it impossible to defend the child.
The outcome of this trial will define the legal future of the two defendants after years of procedural proceedings and wide repercussions in Brazilian society. The detailed analysis of the expert reports, combined with the testimonies of technical witnesses, such as the Hospital Barra d’Or team, forms the evidentiary basis that the sentencing council will evaluate. The criminal justice system seeks to establish the material truth of the events that occurred in the apartment and determine the corresponding liability for the conduct described in the original complaint.