A 26-year-old woman who spent six years behind bars for a crime she did not commit has died just two months after being cleared of murder.
Damaris Vitória Kremer da Rosa died on 26 October from complications linked to cervical cancer – an illness diagnosed while she was still in prison.
She had been arrested in August 2019 for allegedly taking part in the killing of Daniel Gomes Soveral.
Daniel was killed with multiple gunshots in Salto do Jacuí, north-west of Porto Alegre, Brazil, in November 2018. His body was later set on fire.
Prosecutors claimed Damaris had “planned the murder with the other defendants” and had kept up a “fake relationship with the victim to lure him to the place chosen for the execution”.
Her lawyers, however, said she had only told her boyfriend that Daniel, 34, had raped her – and that the boyfriend acted alone in killing him.
Damaris was moved between four prisons – in Sobradinho, Lajeado, Santa Maria and Rio Pardo – during her time in custody.
Behind bars, she repeatedly reported health problems, including vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain. Her defence team filed multiple release requests, all rejected.
The Rio Grande do Sul Court of Justice ruled at the time: “There isn’t sufficient evidence that the defendant is severely debilitated by a serious illness, since the medical documents submitted are just prescriptions, with no indication of an actual diagnosed condition and no exams or medical reports.”
It was only on 18 March this year that she was released, after finally being diagnosed with malignant cervical cancer, as reported by Need To Know.
She was placed under house arrest at her mother’s home in Balneário Arroio do Silva, fitted with an ankle tag, and began chemotherapy and radiotherapy in April.
Her lawyer, Rebeca Canabarro, said: “I filed motions explaining that she was undergoing cancer treatment and needed to move between hospitals. Her weight was also fluctuating.
“I asked for the ankle monitor to be removed, but none of those requests were granted. She had X-rays and other tests done – all while still wearing the monitor.”
Damaris’s case only went before a jury in August. On 13 August, she was acquitted of both charges: murdering the victim and setting fire to the vehicle with his body inside.
She died 74 days later and was laid to rest in Araranguá last Monday (27 Oct).
She leaves behind her parents, Claudete and Ademar, her two brothers, and her boyfriend, businessman and radio host Allen Silva.
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