A woman in Brazil was arrested for allegedly cutting an unborn baby from a pregnant teenager’s womb and murdering her. The woman, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly buried the teen in a yard and took the baby as her own after faking her pregnancy.
The victim, 16-year-old Emilly Azevedo Sena, was 9 months pregnant when she went missing last Wednesday, March 12, Civil Police Chief Caio Albuquerque of the city of Cuiabá said in a press conference on Friday. Her body was discovered buried in the backyard of a home in the Jardim Florianópolis community on Thursday.
The suspect admitted that she experienced a miscarriage 6 months ago, according to reports. However, she hid the ordeal from her husband and family by pretending to still be pregnant.
According to the authorities, Emilly met the suspect through social media. The woman lured Emilly to her home by telling her that she had some baby clothes available for donation.
The police received a call from the local hospital on March 13 regarding a suspicious woman with a baby, the Civil Judicial Police of Mato Grosso said in a statement. The woman and her husband showed up at the hospital with the baby that she claimed to be hers. However, the hospital staff became suspicious when the woman showed no signs of recently giving birth or being pregnant, prompting them to call the police.
The police went to the hospital to investigate and then went to the house the woman shared with her husband. The police discovered Emilly’s body in a shallow grave with her abdomen cut open on the property, per the report. The woman, who admitted to murdering the teen, is facing three charges: homicide, concealment of a corpse, and registering someone else’s baby as her own, according to People.
The news outlet also shared that the Civil Judicial Police of Mato Grosso is currently trying to determine if anyone else was involved in Emilly’s murder. The teen’s mother, Ana Paula Meridiane, told local news G1 at her daughter’s memorial that Emilly was also her “friend, partner, and companion” with a “wonderful” heart.