In America, a child is sexually assaulted every 9 minutes. According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), approximately 63,000 children are victims of sex abuse every year. Of those, only about 29% of cases result in an arrest. In Brazil, in 2019, 17,000 cases of sexual violence against children and adolescents were registered. For 10-year-old Gabrielly Magalhães, as soon as she reported her abuse to her mother, she was doomed.
Gabrielly Magalhães was just 10 years old when she had worked up the courage to speak out against her step-father. It was March 21, 2020. She told her mom, Emileide, who was 30 at the time, that her step-father had been sexually abusing her. Instead of shock or horror, her mother responded with anger and aggression.
She forced Gabrielly and her 13-year-old brother to get into her car. She drove them to a remote wooded area in the small town of Brasilândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, where they lived. Once there, they all got out of the car and entered the woods.
They walked until they encountered a hole dug in the earth. There, Emileide pushed her daughter to the ground and with an electric wire, began to strangle her. Although she was not yet dead, she, with the help of her son, pushed Gabrielly’s body into the hole, upside down.
She cried out, yelling for help as she was buried alive. Her brother later told investigators that he thought their mom was just going to beat his sister up. He never expected the reality, never thought he’d hear his sister begging for her life, her body buried in the ground with only her feet sticking out.
Emileide took her son and fled the scene. She dropped her son off at the town square before heading to the bar for a beer. She didn’t know whether Gabrielly was dead or alive. She ended up going back to the place where her daughter was buried – twice. The first time, the girl was still alive. She left, and when she returned, Gabrielly was dead.
That night, at approximately 9:20pm, Emileide went to the local police station and filed a missing person’s report. She told police that her daughter had vanished from the town square, where she had “dropped her off” with her brother earlier that day.
Around midnight, Emileide called the police again – this time turning herself in. She confessed that she had dropped her son off at the town square before taking Gabrielly to the wooded area where she had buried her.
Police immediately picked up on her lack of remorse for her daughter, yet the concern she had for her husband. Brasilândia’s police chief, Thiago Passos, believed she committed the crime out of jealousy and fear that her husband would be arrested.
Sunday, March 22, Gabrielly’s brother accompanied Emileide to the police station. Police noticed scratches on his legs, and immediately considered him a suspect.
He confessed to participating in the murder of his little sister, and even told investigators where they could find the electric wire that had been used to strangle her. He later changed his story, claiming that he was forced to participate, lest he share his sister’s fate.
He confessed that he had been threatened with a tire iron. According to his attorney, “She (Emileide_ said that he was already involved in the act, and (he) ended up staying at the location, witnessing the atrocities.”
Gabrielly’s brother went on to tell investigators that his mom had gotten mad at his sister after she told her about the sexual abuse she had suffered at the hands of their step-father, 47-year-old André Luiz Ferreira.
While Ferreira admitted to having spent some time alone with Gabrielly on another occasion, he denied all claims of abuse. However, Gabrielly’s brother confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted numerous times.
A witness reported to the police that Gabrielly had confessed to them in late 2019 that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather, and that she was afraid to tell her mother. She was afraid of what her mother would do to her.
Gabrielly’s body was recovered and the medical examiner determined her cause of death to be compressive asphyxia. The report also stated that her body was covered with multiple bruises, leading investigators to believe that she had also been tortured.
Emileide Magalhães was arrested and sent to Três Lagoas Women ‘s Penitentiary, 40 miles (65km) from Brasilândia. André Luiz Ferreira was taken to Bataguassu Prison. Gabrielly’s brother was hospitalized at Unei (Inpatient Educational Unit), a socio-educational detention center, but was later released into the care of his biological father.
While a trial date has not yet been set, the judge ruled on April 6th, that she would be charged with triple qualified homicide for a mean, cruel reason, an appeal that made the victim’s defense difficult and for the crime of corruption of a minor.
Child abuse has a lasting impact that never goes away. If you have time, take a moment and read Steven’s story, and how he handled life after escaping his abuser.
If you, or someone you know is experiencing sexual abuse, contact RAINN, or call 1-800-656-HOPE (1-800-656-4673)