Suspect of crime in Copacabana had left hours before arrest

A man suspected of having murdered a fan of singer Taylor Swift, on Copacabana beach – Rio de Janeiro, this Sunday (19), had been released from prison around 12 hours before the crime. The information was confirmed by the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro (PCERJ) to People’s Gazette.

According to the police, the man under investigation was released during a custody hearing, on Saturday (18), after being arrested for stealing 80 chocolate bars from a store in the same region. He had six criminal notes — among the crimes are murder and robbery.

The police also reported that the man released from custody acted in the crime with two other accomplices, one with 14 criminal records and the other with 10 criminal records, such as robbery, homicide, possession of a firearm, bodily harm, theft and receiving. The first two suspects were detained by the police after the crime, only one remains at large.

The victim was a young man, aged 25, who lived in Minas Gerais and was in Rio de Janeiro to participate in Taylor Swift’s concert, which was canceled due to the heat.

Impunity

The crime had repercussions on social media and reignited the debate about “impunity” in Brazil.

For former federal deputy Deltan Dallagnol (Novo-PR), the young man “was not only a victim of Brazil’s criminal and procedural laws, but also of the Judiciary’s leniency towards crime”.

“The bad example comes from above: when the STF releases powerful corrupt people, judges down here do the same to street criminals, resulting in death”, wrote Dallagnol on the X network, when reposting a criticism made by writer Glória Pérez about the murder.

According to Glória Pérez, the young man was the victim “of a repeat criminal who had been released 12 hours earlier” and also of “Brazilian criminal laws, which seem to be tailored to encourage crime.”