A mum was stabbed to death as she slept cradling her son, her grieving mother alleges.
Luiz Claudio Carvalho, 24, faces 30 years in prison for the alleged murder of his ex-partner, Lais Goncalves da Silva, 30, in the early hours of April 18.
Carvalho denies committing the crime despite handing himself in at a local police station in Sao Pedro da Aldeia, Brazil accompanied by a lawyer.
Silva was sleeping in bed with her son, aged one year and nine months, in her arms when she suffered the brutal attack, according to the victim’s grandmother, Ivanet Gomes de Carvalho.
The prime suspect told officers he broke into his ex-partner’s house because he was “really missing” his son, and wanted to see him but an argument broke out with da Silva in which he claims to have wrestled off her, killing her with it in alleged “self-defence”.
The police and the victim’s family do not believe the suspect’s version of events, suspecting him of intentionally killing his ex because he was unable to accept their breakup.
A few days before the crime, Silva had visited the same police station to report an assault at the hands of Carvalho, and a restraining order was subsequently taken out against him.
Silva was buried in the municipal cemetery and she leaves behind three children, a son, 13, and a daughter, 9, from a previous relationship, as well as her young son, whose father is Carvalho.
The case has been registered as femicide, and Carvalho, if found guilty, could face up to 30 years in prison.
The investigation continues.