The judge who granted a judicial pardon to the mother of the boy, who died in 2021, said that she had already suffered a severe enough punishment
The boy’s father, Leniel Borel, filed an appeal this Monday (June 8, 2026) asking for the annulment of the trial that granted a judicial pardon to Monique Medeiros, the child’s mother, on June 4.
The jury had decided to downgrade the charge from intentional homicide to manslaughter (when there is no intention to kill) and convict her of the crime of torture by omission.
When applying the judicial pardon, judge Elizabeth Louro justified that Monique had already suffered a severe enough punishment. The judge criticized the “disproportionate reaction from society, classifying it as discriminatory and the result of a culture that demands that women be a perfect mother”. Monique was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in detention for the crime of torture and, as she had already been serving preventive detention, the sentence was considered over.
Leniel Borel’s defense argued that “the jurors had already recognized the materiality and authorship attributed to Monique, as well as rejecting the acquittal thesis presented by the defense”.
“However, following the vote, they were subjected to new questions whose answers proved to be incompatible with the conclusions previously reached by the Sentencing Council itself, generating an internal contradiction in the verdict and compromising the correct interpretation of the sovereign will of the jurors”highlighted lawyer Cristiano da Rocha Medina, who represents Leniel Borel.
According to the appeal, judicial pardon “prevents the unequivocal identification of the real manifestation of the Sentencing Council”. The defense requested a mistrial and a new jury.
“Respect for the sovereignty of verdicts presupposes that the will of the jurors is expressed in a clear, coherent and free from contradictions manner. When there is objective doubt about the scope of the answers provided by the Sentencing Council, a new trial is required so that the decision unequivocally reflects the will of the jurors”concluded the defense.
According to the prosecutor, Fábio Vieira, who served on the jury, the Public Ministry appealed the decision, “since, in a first question, Monique was considered responsible for Henry’s intentional death. Therefore, we understand that she should also have been convicted of intentional homicide”.
JAIRINHO’S DEFENSE
Former councilor Jairo Souza Santos Júnior, Dr. Jairinho, was sentenced to 43 years, 9 months and 20 days in prison for the death of Henry Borel Medeiros, aged 4, which occurred on March 8, 2021.
Jairinho’s defense also filed an appeal, this Monday (June 8), against the conviction. Lawyers allege bias by judge Elizabeth Machado Louro. According to lawyers, the issue has been raised since the beginning of the process and gained strength after criticism made by the Public Ministry and the prosecution assistance in relation to the judicial pardon for Monique Medeiros.
The defense maintains that, “if the Court recognizes defects capable of annulling Monique Medeiros’ judgment, the same understanding must be applied to Jairinho”.
Lawyers claim that a possible new jury should be held without the alleged nullities highlighted throughout the process.
DEFENSE OF MONIQUE MEDEIROS
The lawyers working in Monique’s defense highlighted that “the Jury Court constitutes one of the most important constitutional guarantees of the Democratic State of Law, with the sovereignty of verdicts being a principle expressly guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of 1988”.
In a note, they assess that the trial was guided by the analysis of the evidence produced in the procedural instruction, within the rules that govern the popular jury procedure.
Throughout the entire process, Monique’s defense maintained that “she did not commit any aggression against her son and that her biggest mistake was not being able to realize, in time, the violence that she and her son suffered. Henry’s death represents an irreparable tragedy for everyone involved in this case”.
This text was originally published by Agência Brasil, on June 8, 2026, at 8:09 pm. The content is free for republication, the source is cited, and has been adapted to the standard of Poder360.
