14-year-old son who killed councilor hospitalized preventively. PJ points to mental illness as motivation

Authorities found no evidence of a conflict between the mother and son that could explain the crime, pointing to a mental problem as the cause. The teenager will remain hospitalized while the educational guardianship process takes place.

The 14-year-old teenager who killed Vagos City Council councilor Susana Gravato was detained by the Judiciary Police (PJ) of Aveiro after confessing to the murder.

The crime occurred last Tuesday, inside the family home. According to authorities, the minor used a 6.35 mm caliber pistol, belonging to his father and duly legalized. The boy will have memorized the safe combination where the gun was kept and, in an attack that still has no apparent explanation, he shot his mother. At the time of the murder, Susana Gravato was on the phone with a friend, a circumstance that helped the PJ to quickly reconstruct the events, according to the report.

After the shooting, the young man tried to cover up the crime by staging a false robbery. He covered his mother’s body, left and returned moments later to cover surveillance cameras and mess up various rooms in the house, simulating the actions of thieves. However, the inconsistencies in the scenario, such as the absence of signs of breaking the lock and the boy’s cell phone being turned off before leaving, aroused the police’s suspicions. Confronted with the evidence, the teenager ended up confessing to the murder and indicating the place where he had hidden the weapon.

Unable to clearly justify the reason for the attack, the young man only said that his mother “was very demanding”. The note further notes that the PJ found no evidence of a conflictual relationship between mother and son, hence considering that the crime was caused by a mental health problem on the part of the 14-year-old boy.

The Juvenile Court decreed your preventive hospitalization in an institution, where he will remain while the educational guardianship process takes place. If convicted, the maximum possible sentence will be three years of internment in a closed regime, with the possibility of being released at the age of 17.