A young couple and their infant baby were gunned down by a motorbike pillion passenger thought to be over a £780 loan.
Nurse Rayssa Santos tried to shield her seven-month-old son as their rented car was riddled with bullets in the drive-by shooting.
The 23-year-old and her husband Filipe Rodrigues, who was behind the wheel, died instantly.
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Locals rushed little Miguel Filipe to a local hospital with a bullet lodged in his head and a leg fracture.
He was transferred to a larger facility, where he underwent surgery, but he died from two cardiac arrests early on Monday (18 Mar).
Filipe, 24, had told Rayssa’s stepdad he planned to pick up 5,000 BRL (£780) for a down payment on a house that day.
It’s not clear if it was a loan or payment for a plastering job he’d done.
It’s not clear if he already had the money or was on his way to get it when he and his family were gunned down on Sunday (17 Mar).
The police are investigating if the cash had anything to do with the motive for the killings.
Another line of investigation is that it was a robbery.
The police found nine bullet casings at the crime scene in Niterói, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
They say the murder weapon was a .40 calibre pistol.
The stretch of road where the crime happened lies just 9 miles from the victims’ home in São Gonçalo.
Filipe was studying to take the entrance exam for the Military Police.
According to his family, the couple had left their lights and air con on, suggesting they hadn’t planned to be out for long.
The family were laid to rest in São Gonçalo yesterday (19 Mar).
Filipe leaves behind another son from a previous relationship.
Rayssa’s stepdad Elvis de Freitas Soares told local media: “They were good people.
“People who worked, got up early in the morning to go to work. They worked all day.”
And her sister Louene dos Santos said: “She just wanted to fulfil her dream of having her own home.
“They did nothing wrong. They didn’t deserve this.
“I just want justice. Whoever did this will have to pay.”
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