José Guilherme Aguiar, vice-president of the Chamber of Vila Nova de Gaia
The Public Prosecutor’s Office did not press charges because it considered the accident to be inevitable and held the boy’s grandmother responsible for failing to supervise him. The child’s mother contests the decision.
According to , the vice-president of the Gaia City Council, Guilherme Aguiar, was cleared in the judicial process relating to the running over of a five-year-old boy who ended up dying. The accident occurred in 2022, in the late afternoon, when the minor, called Gabriel, was crossing a street in the municipality accompanied by his grandmother, on the way to a grocery store, where he helped transport products.
According to the decision of the Vila Nova de Gaia Public Prosecutor’s Office, the accident would have been “inevitable”, with there not being sufficient evidence of negligence on the part of the defendant. At the moment, Guilherme Aguiar I used my cell phone in speakerphone mode via Bluetoothin conversation with his wife. The prosecutor concluded that, even if he had not been on his cell phone, the accident could not have been avoided and that his conduct “cannot be criminally objectionable“. The order also highlights that there are no visual or hearing problems in the defendant, and that there is no evidence to support an accusation of negligent homicide.
Despite the partial archiving of the process, the Gabriel’s mother contested the decision and requested the opening of an investigation at the Porto Criminal Investigation Court. In the application, the mother argues that the defendant could have immobilized the vehicle upon noticing the collision, preventing her son from being crushed. The document highlights that the boy, autistic, weighed around 32 kg and measured 1.17 m, and questions how the constant impacts of his body against the car were not noticed during the 300 meters in which the vehicle continued moving.
The accident occurred when the defendant was walking up Rua José Mariani and turned right onto Travessa José Mariani. Gabriel was trapped in the wheel of the vehicle until the final collision on Rua D. Henrique de Cernache. Alcohol and drug tests carried out on the driver showed negative results. The autopsy indicated that the cause of death was traumatic brain injuries resulting from blunt trauma.
In the process, the prosecutor criticized Gabriel’s grandmother, holding her partially responsible for the lack of supervision. “The adult responsible for the minor revealed lack of compliance of the rules of common experience, allowing him to cross the street alone in an area with frequent traffic”, highlights the order.
The case is now being analyzed at the Criminal Investigation Court of Porto, where a decision is awaited on the opening of the investigation and a possible decision by the vice-president of the Chamber of Gaia.
