A fitness influencer has died after a ‘jealous pal’ grabbed the steering wheel during a row and sent their car plunging into a flooded construction shaft.
Leticia Souza Santos was heading home from a party with four friends when tragedy struck.
A 22-year-old woman who sat in the front seat has been accused of pulling the wheel during a jealous row with the driver in the early hours of Monday morning (27 Jul).
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The group had reportedly been drinking after a night out when the vehicle left the road.
The vehicle invaded a water company works site and plunged into the flooded shaft.
Leticia, a popular online fitness creator and owner of workout clothing brand Madame Letty, was sitting in the back of the car.
The 32-year-old was trapped in the wreckage and later pronounced dead at the Santa Casa hospital in the Brazilian coastal city of Santos.
Police and firefighters, helped by a site worker, pulled the occupants free.
The 20-year-old female driver told officers the front-seat passenger, who she was in a same-sex relationship with, yanked the wheel amid a jealous argument.
She claimed her partner grew angry over how she spoke to Leticia at the party.
The passenger admitted pulling the wheel but insisted she only wanted to grab a bag from inside the car.
She denied any jealousy motive.
Officers arrested her on suspicion of manslaughter.
A court later freed her after she paid £1,465 (BRL 10,000) bail.
Judges imposed precautionary measures and noted she had no previous convictions.
The driver tested negative for alcohol at the medical examiner’s office.
Water firm Sabesp said the works area was for pedestrians only, properly sign-posted and outside the traffic lane.
It denied any link to the crash and vowed full cooperation with investigators.
The road was closed until 3.45am while emergency crews worked.
Friends remembered Leticia as a determined runner who shared her fitness routines for her 10,000 Instagram fans.
She had completed distances of 5km, 10km and even a half-marathon, as reported by Need To Know.
Local arts group Instituto Querô, which featured her in a short film last year, paid tribute.
“Even though she was shy, she insisted on helping tell the story in the hope of bringing change to the community,” the institute said.
Police continue to investigate the exact circumstances of the fatal row.
Leticia leaves behind a 15-year-old daughter.
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