SWEET REVENGE: Candy Seller Lawer Killed In Gruesome Gangland-Style Execution

A criminal lawyer who used to sell sweets on the street to pay his way through law school has been found shot dead and dumped in the sea with his hands and feet tied.

Victim Danilo Cerqueira de Santana's bullet-riddled and badly beaten body was pulled from the sea by fishermen near Salvador, in the state of Bahia, Brazil, on 18th April.

Police are understood to be investigating whether the brutal gangster-style killing was linked to any of the legal cases he had taken on.

Father-of-two Danilo had worked as a criminal lawyer for five years.

Before that, he sold sweets from a cart at the side of the street to support his family and pay for his studies.

Close friend and colleague Desiree Ressutti said: "Danilo was a very dear friend, a very hard-working, very intelligent person, a competent lawyer.

"He used to be a street vendor. For us, he was an exceptional and extraordinary person.

"Danilo fought hard to get where he was."

Desiree and many other legal colleagues staged a protest outside a local police station demanding justice over his murder.

She said: "We want Danilo to be remembered as a worker, a lawyer, a father, a friend, a person who was always ready to help.

"And to not have his death forgotten like that of other lawyers."

In a statement, the Bahia Bar Association also lamented the death of the criminal lawyer and expressed solidarity with his family, friends and colleagues.

The 3rd Homicide Division is currently investigating the murder.

(Simona Kitanovska / newsX)