State Police Officers Kill Young Black Man in São Paulo; Witnesses Claim Victim was Unarmed

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – An 18-year-old black youth, Wenny Sabino Costa Martin, was shot dead by State Police (PM) officers in the neighborhood of São Mateus, São Paulo‘s east side.

The PM claims the young man exchanged gunfire with police officers. Witnesses provide a different version, stating that there was no exchange of gunfire and that the officers shot at close range. No police officers were injured.

The case occurred on Wednesday morning, November 25th. On Friday, locals staged a protest, burning tires on a stretch of Sapopemba Avenue.

The SSP (Public Safety Secretariat) said that the PM received a car theft report and was suspicious when spotting the car being driven by Wenny. The young man would not have heeded the stop order, and a chase ensued. Still according to the PM, Wenny would have gotten out of the car at some point, gone into a house, and exchanged gunfire with the police before being shot.

Elis Regina de Jesus, 29, a hairdresser living in the house where Wenny entered and was killed, says the young man was unarmed. She reports that there were four people at the scene when everything happened, her nephews, three and four years old, a sister, 13, and Elis’ son, also 13. Elis says she arrived shortly after the event.

Wenny was a friend of Elis’ brothers. According to her, Wenny knocked on the door and came inside. Two police officers would have parked their vehicle and stormed the premises carrying guns. Wenny would have removed his shirt and T-shirt to show that he was unarmed.

Still according to Elis, while an officer ran upstairs to check if there was anyone on the upper floor, the other officer forced Wenny into a bathroom shouting “you lost, you lost!” and shot him four times, striking the young man in the abdomen, chest and right arm. According to her, the officers placed a gun in the young man’s right hand.

“How did he exchange gunfire inside a bathroom if there are no bullet markings on the walls? How can they [the police] break into someone’s house without an arrest warrant?” Elis said.

“I’ve known Wenny since he was a kid, I considered him a brother. He would never endanger the children’s lives,” she said. “If he had been arrested, he would have served as an example to others. There was no need to kill him.”

Elis says she heard reports from neighbors that the police officers left the house and then returned with vests marked with holes. Witnesses also said that the PMs then entered another house to grab footage recorded by a surveillance camera.

After the incident, Elis says plainclothes officers visited her house, claiming “to want to help in the case”.

The PM reported that it has initiated an IPM (Military Police Inquiry) to investigate the occurrence, “as is done in any case where there is death or bodily injury as a result of police-military intervention” and a police inquiry by the Civil Police.

“By force of law, both investigations are conducted in the secrecy of justice. If there is information that may help in the investigations, the one in its possession may bring it to the attention of the State Police Inspectorate or the DHPP [Department of Homicide and Personal Protection],” the corporation says in a note.

Wanted by UOL, the SSP reported that “the case is under investigation by the DHPP, which has opened a police inquiry. All the circumstances of the occurrence are being ascertained. The team is also looking for witnesses and surveillance cameras.

The mother says she was prevented from accompanying her son in the ambulance

Wenny’s mother, Gislaine Sabino dos Santos, 34, says she was home when she heard that her son had been shot and immediately ran to Elis’ house. According to the locksmith’s assistant, police prevented her from entering, but an officer would have ensured that Wenny was “alive, well and talking”.

Gislaine says that police officers also prevented her from accompanying her son in the ambulance to Sapopemba Hospital. According to her, he was rushed to the hospital still alive, escorted by five police officers. When she got there, Gislaine learned that Wenny had died.

The death certificate states that the cause was acute hemorrhage, but does not indicate the time of death. The doctor who attended the case said that he had arrived at the hospital “lifeless”.

“I identified my son’s body three times”

Gislaine accuses the PM of negligence in assisting Wenny because the young man would have reached the IML (Forensic Institute) as a vagrant.

To UOL, she claims to have submitted all of her and her son’s documentation at the hospital. She says she felt unwell and that her brother-in-law, who was with her, signed a blank form delivered by a police officer.

“They [state police officers] were unable to report that he was Gislaine’s son or anything like that. My son reached the morgue as someone with no registered documents. They [PMs] were not fair. I identified my son’s body three times, once in the hospital and twice in the morgue.

After Wenny’s death, Gislaine tried to lodge an occurrence report in the 55th Police District of Parque São Rafael, in the eastern zone. Upon her arrival, she reported that she was told there was nothing to be done and that the DHPP and the State Police Inspectorate would be in contact with her. To date, none of these institutions’ representatives have approached her.

The locksmith’s assistant challenges the PM’s version that Wenny was suspected of theft, but says that she “wouldn’t make it easy” for her son had he committed a crime. However, she challenges the version that Wenny was armed and accuses the police of planting the gun in his hand.

“They [PMs] placed a gun in his right hand. But my son was left-handed, he couldn’t wash a glass with his right hand. It doesn’t make any sense,” she said.

Wenny planned to study radiology, says mother

The SSP has not reported if Wenny had a police record. Gislaine says he did not.

According to her, Wenny, the oldest of three brothers, turned 18 a month ago and recently graduated from high school. He planned to take a radiology course next year and work in a hospital, in addition to helping his father with elevator maintenance services during weekends.

“My son had his life on track, with almost two jobs. He wanted a good job, he liked motorcycles and cars. He was a polite boy, he didn’t swear to anyone”.

Source: UOL