Military Police Pedro Inácio Araújo de Maria, convicted of the murder of Zaira Cruz Reproduction/Inter TV Cabugi Military Police sergeant Pedro Inácio Araújo de Maria, sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape and murder of student Zaira Cruz during the Caicó Carnival, in 2019, was excluded from the corporation, on Friday (17). In the decision, signed by the general commander of the PM, Colonel Alarico Azevedo, the commander determines the exclusion "for the sake of discipline" and states that the criminal conviction made the soldier incompatible with remaining on active duty. ? Click here to follow the g1 RN channel on WhatsApp The document cites Pedro Inácio's "manifest supervening moral incapacity" and maintains that the conduct violates the duties inherent to being a military police officer. The text also points out that the conclusion was based on the verdict of the Jury Court and states that the conviction characterizes "a violation of the duties of the military police officer, affecting the feeling of duty, police-military modesty and class decorum". READ ALSO Young woman was found dead inside a car PM sergeant was arrested days after the crime MP denounced PM sergeant for rape and murder of the young woman Justice decided by popular jury of PM Jury was canceled after defense of accused abandoned plenary Sergeant was convicted in December 2025 PM progressed to semi-open regime PM was promoted during prison In March this year, g1 showed that Pedro Inácio Araújo de Maria was promoted twice and continued to receive salaries normally during the approximately seven years in which he was imprisoned in the corporation's custody in Rio Grande do Norte. During this period, the military's salary more than doubled, going from just over R$4,000 in March 2019 to more than R$10,600 in the last month of February, according to data from the Transparency Portal. The server received almost R$600,000 in gross salaries (without social security deductions) over this time. When he was arrested, the soldier was a corporal in the Military Police, but was promoted to third sergeant and then to second sergeant while awaiting trial. Zaira Cruz was 22 years old Personal Archive The case Zaira Cruz was found dead on the morning of Carnival Saturday 2019, on March 2. Born in Currais Novos, she had rented a house with friends for the festivities. In the same house, according to the Civil Police at the time, was Sergeant Pedro Inácio. The student was found dead inside a car that was in the condominium of that residence. At the time, the delegate in the case, Leonardo Germano, reported that it was the PM sergeant himself who called the police. At the time, he said that he had had sexual intercourse with the young woman in the car, before they arrived at the condominium. He reportedly said that the young woman "blacked out" inside the vehicle and that he left her sleeping in the car because he wanted to wake her up. When morning came, he would have gone to see her in the car and found her dead. The police, however, understood that the young woman arrived dead at the scene. Zaira lived in Mossoró, where she was studying Chemical Engineering at the Federal Rural University of Semi-Árido (Ufersa). Sergeant Pedro Inácio was assigned to the Currais Novos Forum.