A lorry driver was caught on camera swigging alcohol behind the wheel moments before he mowed down a student at a bus stop.
Joyce Akemi Santana Muraoka was fatally struck while waiting for a bus to university last Tuesday (5 May).
A 45-year-old man was also hit and taken to hospital in a serious condition, with no discharge date confirmed at the time of the latest update.
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According to a witness, the lorry was speeding when it lost control and hit Joyce, 19, and the man, before crashing into a ditch.
Matheus Henrique Poly Garcia was restrained by witnesses at the scene in Jacupiranga, Brazil, and later arrested.
The man who had been with him in the lorry fled into nearby woodland.
Identified by police as the lorry’s owner, the apparently intoxicated 37-year-old claimed he had only been a passenger and had been asleep at the time of the crash.
He provided the alleged driver’s details and was released after undergoing tests at a local A&E.
The 19-year-old man Garcia had named as the driver was tracked down on Wednesday (6 May) and taken to Eldorado police station.
He told officers he had in fact been a passenger and had fled the scene after being instructed to do so by Garcia.
He also showed police a video he had filmed moments before the crash, showing a topless Garcia drinking from a bottle of alcohol while speeding along the single carriageway.
After giving his statement, the teenager was released, as reported by Need To Know.
Police now believe Garcia was the driver of the lorry and was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
He was traced to Piedade on Thursday (7 May) and arrested on suspicion of completed and attempted homicide with reckless disregard for human life.
He remains in custody.
Joyce, an only child, was in her second year of Business Administration at UNIVR in Registro.
She also worked on a rural property with her father and had recently started a course in agricultural drone operation.
Her classmate Gabriela de Arruda Boaro told local media: “She liked going out, going to the beach, she wanted to visit waterfalls, go hiking.
“She was such a lovely person, she had so much ahead of her to live and achieve. She’s going to be deeply missed.”
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