A man whose 15-year-old stepdaughter was five months pregnant when she was stabbed to death has been seized by police after being accused of lying to them.
Suspect Ramon Silva Gomes, 45, told police he was visiting his parents on 24th March when the teen was found dead at the family home in Itaueira, in the Brazilian state of Piaui.
But phone record checks have revealed that Gomes, 30, was in fact at home when victim Maria Victoria Rodrigues dos Santos was brutally killed.
Picture shows Maria Victoria Rodrigues dos Santos, undated. She was found killed in her home in Itaueira, Brazil, on Mar. 24, 2025. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)
Judges have ordered Maria's body to be exhumed for a new autopsy, including, it is understood, tests to establish the paternity of her unborn baby.
Maria had multiple stab wounds and bruises all over her body when she was found dead by her mother on the floor of her bedroom.
Picture shows Maria Victoria Rodrigues dos Santos, undated. She was found killed in her home in Itaueira, Brazil, on Mar. 24, 2025. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
Heartbreakingly, mum Marisa Rodrigues told local media how just an hour earlier she had felt her daughter's baby, already named Isaac, moving in the womb.
She said: "Before I went out at about 7 pm, I went to her room and she was lying on the bed.
"She said, 'Mum, feel here, Isaac is jumping'.
Picture shows Ramon Silva Gomes, 30, undated. He was arrested after Maria Victoria Rodrigues dos Santos was found killed in her home in Itaueira, Brazil, on Mar. 24, 2025. Note: Private photo taken from social media.(Newsflash/NX)
"I put my hand on her belly and the baby stopped moving and I joked, 'Wow, you don’t mess with grandma, huh?’"
Gomes, reports local media, would often spend hours home alone with Maria or take her out on dad and daughter 'dates'.
City police chief Joao Anio said: "If he did not do it, he could be seen as a witness.
Picture shows Maria Victoria Rodrigues dos Santos's mother, Marisa Rodrigues, undated. Maria Victoria was found killed in her home in Itaueira, Brazil, on Mar. 24, 2025. Note: Private photo. (Newsflash/NX)
"But this theory is not supported by the lies he told us.
"We identified the presence of Gomes at the scene of the crime at the time of the crime with irrefutable and unquestionable data.
"He has said formally and informally said that he was at his parents' house when Maria died, but his version does not hold up."
The investigation continues.
(MJ Leidig/newsX)