Woman is killed by her partner in Minas, and body is found next to the couple's baby, police say

On Monday (6), the Minas Gerais Court converted the arrest of João Vitor Silva Coleta da Matta into preventive arrest (without a deadline).

According to the court decision, after being located during police searches, João Vitor spontaneously told agents that he had strangled his partner.

According to the document, he said he killed Karen Aparecida Ferreira Rosa, 44, after being woken up by her and claimed that the victim had hit him in the face with a cell phone. The forensic examination, however, did not find any injuries to the person under investigation, as recorded in the decision.

Contacted by Folha, the Minas Gerais Public Defender's Office, responsible for João Vitor's defense, reported that it does not comment on specific criminal cases, except for criticism of the agency's actions.

According to the Military Police, the victim was found dead in the living room of the couple's residence. According to the police report, one of the couple's daughters, a 1-year-old baby, was breastfeeding her mother's breast when family members arrived at the property.

A 2-year-old boy, also the couple's son, slept in one of the bedrooms of the house. The two children were in the care of family members.

According to the PM, the suspect called his own sister shortly after the crime and asked her to go to the house to check on the children, saying that he had done "shit". Then he left the place.

The man was located on Sunday afternoon after searches carried out by security forces. According to the court decision, he fled to a forested area and was found during investigations that mobilized several police teams and included the use of a drone.

In a statement, the Civil Police reported that they confirmed the arrest of the suspect in the act. Forensics were on site and carried out the usual work. The case remains under investigation by the Cataguases Police Station.

When converting the arrest into preventative arrest, judge Priscila Carvalho de Andrade stated that there is sufficient evidence of the authorship and materiality of the crime, as well as a risk to public order and the application of criminal law.

According to the decision, witnesses reported that, on the night of the crime, the couple argued over messages on a cell phone application.

The statements also indicate that the suspect's attacks on his partner were frequent and that, since the couple returned from Belo Horizonte, around three months earlier, she had been attacked at least once.

The judge also highlighted that João Vitor had already been arrested in the act in September 2023 for the crimes of bodily harm and injury in the context of domestic violence against the same victim.

At the time, he was granted provisional freedom. According to the decision, the feminicide would also have been carried out while there was still an ongoing police investigation related to the previous case.

The judge also considered the suspect's escape shortly after the crime, the seriousness of the conduct - described in the decision as mechanical asphyxiation due to strangulation - and the fact that the homicide, in theory, took place in the presence of the couple's two young children.

For the judge, these circumstances demonstrate the need for preventive detention to guarantee public order and ensure the application of criminal law.

The decision also determines that the Guardianship Council monitors the situation of the couple's two children and adopts the appropriate protection measures.

Karen Aparecida was buried on Sunday (5), at the Cataguases Municipal Cemetery.

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