14-year-old son who killed Vagos councilor must spend three years in prison

The minor must spend three years in hospital and avoid a formal trial if he accepts the Public Prosecutor’s proposal.

The 14-year-old minor accused of killing his mother, Susana Gravato, councilor of the Chamber of Vagos, trial begins this Wednesday at the Family and Minors Court of Aveiro, and you can learn about the court decision during the day.

According to , a proposal from the Public Ministry is on the table that provides for three years of internment in a closed regimeof which the teenager has already served around six months.

The crime occurred in October last year and shocked the Vagos community. The victim, aged 49, was murdered at home by her own sonmaking him one of the youngest people involved in homicides in Portugal. The son allegedly used his father’s gun, staged a robbery and fled after the crime.

The concealment attempt turned out, however, to be ineffective. Video surveillance footage from the residence showed the minor leaving before his mother’s death, and the weapon used was later found buried in a cemetery. Arrested by the Aveiro Judicial Police, the young man ended up confessing to the murder.

Being under 16 years of age, the minor cannot be held criminally responsible in the traditional terms of Portuguese law. Instead, the educational guardianship regime, focused on resocialization, applies. Since his arrest, he has been admitted to an educational center in Porto, where he attends school and maintains contact with other young people in a similar situation. Despite being closed, occasional departures, such as home visits, may be authorized.

If you accept the Public Prosecutor’s proposal, which must also be validated by the father, the young man avoids formal trialwith the decision being converted directly into a sentence. After complying with the measure, he will return to his father’s custody, without additional institutional support.

The trial takes place behind closed doors, with the aim of protecting the identity and development of the minor, with only the reading of the decision being public.