Once inside the house, Sena was brutally attacked and h@nged to d3ath before a sharp object was used to forcibly remove her unborn baby.
A forensic expert told Brazilian news outlet G1 that Sena had deep cuts in the shape of a “T” on her abdomen and was still alive when her baby was taken. Her body was later discovered buried in a shallow grave in the backyard, with wires wrapped around her neck.
Pereira’s husband, Christian de Arruda, 28, was reportedly unaware of the murd£r and believed his wife had actually given birth. He even shared a photo of the child on social media, captioning it: “Be well, my daughter.”
On Thursday, March 13, de Arruda met Pereira at Santa Helena Hospital, where they attempted to register the baby as their own. However, hospital staff grew suspicious when they noticed Pereira was clean and showed no signs of labor or bleeding, despite claiming to have given birth at home.
Medical personnel took custody of the baby and examined Pereira, whose test results exposed her lie.
Pereira, a mother of three, later admitted that she had suffered two consecutive miscarriages.
“She had lost a baby about six months ago. This would have been her second miscarriage, so she decided to fake a pregnancy,” her lawyers told G1.
“According to calculations, the baby she lost would have been born around this time.”
Pereira had lured the pregnant teen to her brother-in-law’s home on Wednesday, March 12, under the pretense of donating baby clothes and a crib accessory. Text messages showed that Pereira specifically told Sena not to bring the unborn child’s father.
Sena’s mother, Ana Meridiane, revealed that her daughter had connected with Pereira through social media, where Pereira had claimed to be an expectant mother in need of support.
“She told Emilly that she had received a lot of baby clothes and wanted to donate some,” Meridiane said.
Authorities initially detained Pereira’s husband, her brother-in-law, and another man, but all three were released on Friday morning, March 14, after Pereira confessed to acting alone.
Caio Alexandre, chief of the Mato Grosso Civil Police Homicide and Persona Protection Department in Cuiabá, told reporters that investigations are still ongoing.
“We are still examining the crime scene to determine exactly how the attack unfolded, where the victim was restrained, and where the assault escalated before her body was disposed of,” Alexandre stated.
Authorities also found knives at the crime scene, which are being analyzed as potential evidence.
