A pregnant teenager in Brazil was brutally murdered after being lured into a woman’s home with the promise of free baby clothes. The attacker cut the unborn baby from the teen’s womb before strangling her, reports the New York Post.
The victim was a 16-year-old girl named Emilly Sena, and she was nine months pregnant when she was targeted by Nataly Pereira, 25, who had recently suffered a miscarriage.
Authorities discovered Sena’s body on Thursday, buried in the backyard of the home Pereira shared with her husband, Christian de Arruda, 28.
The heinous crime came to light when the couple attempted to register the stolen baby as their own at a hospital in Cuiabá, Brazil. Suspicious medical staff tested Pereira and found she had never been pregnant.
Pereira had a miscarriage six months earlier but didn’t tell her family. She pretended to be pregnant and came up with a cruel plan to steal a baby.
Pereira contacted Sena on WhatsApp, offering free baby clothes and even paying for her transport to the house.
“She said she had received a lot of baby clothes and wanted to donate some to Emilly,” the victim’s grieving mother, Ana Paula Meridiane, told local news outlet g1.
Once Sena arrived, the situation turned deadly. Police Chief Caio Alexandre revealed that the teen was brutally attacked, strangled, and later hanged with internet cables. T-shaped cuts on her abdomen indicated she was still alive when her unborn baby was cut from her womb with a bladed weapon. Sena desperately tried to fight back but succumbed to blood loss.
Caught in the act
Pereira and De Arruda were arrested at the hospital while trying to pass the baby off as their own. Despite initial suspicions that they had worked together, Pereira claimed she acted alone.
Her lawyers revealed she had suffered a previous miscarriage and continued pretending to be pregnant.
“This would be the second time she had had a miscarriage, and so she decided to maintain this false pregnancy,” they were quoted as saying to the New York Post.
Meanwhile, De Arruda insisted he had no idea about the murder, believing his wife had actually given birth. He had even shared a photo online, announcing he had just become a father.
Authorities are still investigating, with Brazil’s Homicide and Personal Protection Division questioning De Arruda and two other suspects.
“The investigation is still on site to find out the dynamics of what happened,” Alexandre said.