Sonia Fatima Moura and Bruninho Samudio, mother and son of Eliza Samudio, participated in a walk along the shore of Copacabana Beach, in Rio de Janeiro, which marked five years since the death of Henry Borel. The event, held on Sunday (8), was promoted by the boy’s father, councilor Leniel Borel (PP).
The action taken by the victim’s family was promoted days before the Henry’s mother, Monique Medeiros, and his stepfather, the then councilor Jairo Souza Santos Júnior, Dr. Jairinho. THE trial is scheduled to begin on March 23 and is expected to last five days.
In addition to the act, 280 billboards will be distributed throughout the city with the message: “Justice for Henry Borel, join this fight with us”. The action, made possible through a partnership between friends and family.
Remember the Henry Borel case
The boy Henry Borel died in the early hours of March 8, 2021in the apartment where he lived with his mother and stepfather, located in Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio de Janeiro.
A child was taken unconscious by the couple to a hospitalwhere the medical team found that the boy arrived dead at the unit. Initially, his mother and stepfather told investigators that Henry had suffered a domestic accident after falling from the bed in which he was sleeping.
This version was discarded by the experts and the autopsy report from the IML (Medico-Legal Institute) found that Henry suffered 23 injuries spread across his bodyand the cause of death was indicated as internal bleeding and liver laceration caused by blunt action.
Civil Police investigations concluded that the child was subjected to a routine of aggression and torture carried out by Dr. Jairinhowith the consent of Monique, who had already been alerted by the boy’s nanny about the violence at least a month before the death.
Monique and Jairinho were preventively arrested and the MPRJ (Public Ministry of Rio de Janeiro) denounced the couple for triple homicidetorture, coercion during the process and procedural fraud.
The woman was also accused of the crime of ideological falsehood for having lied at the hospital, in an attempt to mask the attacks and protect her partner.
As investigations progress, Dr. Jairinho was expelled from Solidariedade, his former party, and had his mandate as councilor revoked in plenary and definitively lost his professional registration with Cremerj (Regional Council of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro).
In April 2022, the court granted Monique the right to house arrest with monitoring by an electronic ankle bracelet, after the defendant claimed to have suffered threats from other inmates in the prison.
Months later, in August 2022, an injunction from the STJ (Superior Court of Justice) revoked her arrest, allowing her to be released. However, in July 2023, the from the STF (Supreme Federal Court), responded to an appeal from the prosecution assistance and ordered Monique’s immediate return to prison, arguing that her release contradicted jurisprudence given the seriousness of the crime.
In March 2025, the TJRJ () unanimously maintained preventive detention, while the defendant’s defense even called the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights alleging unsanitary conditions in the Bangu penitentiary.
*Under the supervision of Tonny Aranha
