Palmeiras fan was killed after being hit by shards of a bottle thrown during a fight between fans in 2023
Gabriella Anelli, a Palmeiras fan, was hit in the neck by bottle fragments
(photo: Reproduction/Social Media)
The civil servant Jonathan Messias Santos da Silva was sentenced on Tuesday afternoon (20) to 14 years in prison, initially in a closed regime, for the death of Palmeiras fan Gabriela Anelli Marchiano, on July 10, 2023, when she was 23 years old. An appeal is possible. The sentence was read by judge Isadora Botti Beraldo Moro. The trial, which ended in the middle of the afternoon this Tuesday, began the day before and was suspended in the early evening. It took place at the 5th Jury Court of the Capital, at the Barra Funda Criminal Court, in the west of São Paulo. According to the police, Gabriela Anelli Marchiano was hit in the neck by shards of glass during a fight between Palmeiras 和 Flamengo fans near Allianz Parque, also in the west of the capital. The bottle, whose shards hit the fan, according to the police investigation, was thrown by Jonathan, who had been in preventive detention since July 2023. He was arrested in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Court of Justice, the Sentencing Council found him guilty of the crime of qualified homicide with eventual intent, that is, when there is a risk of killing, as accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo.
The council recognized the materiality and authorship of the crime, as well as the qualifiers of futile motive, use of cruel means and resource that prevented the victim from defending herself. Jonathan always denied attempting to kill the fan. At least four of the seven jurors, that is, the majority, voted for conviction. After the trial, attorney José Victor Moraes Barros, who defended the Flamengo fan, said that the jury’s decision was wrong based on the evidence produced so far in the case.
The defense initially said that it would appeal, but would still analyze the outcome of the conviction. “The trial was difficult, with many hours and very exhausting for everyone because it involved the death of the young woman Gabriela,” he said. Judge Isadora Moro stated that the defendant’s confession should be considered as a mitigating factor. “In this case, the defendant confessed to the main part of the facts, that is, that he threw the bottle,” she emphasized.
A civil servant for the City of Rio de Janeiro, he worked as a principal and teacher at a school in the west zone of the capital at the time of the incident. Before the game between the two teams, for the Brazilian Championship, Flamengo and Palmeiras fans fought, even though they were separated by a metal partition. Images of the confrontation show that the Flamengo fan threw a bottle, which broke at the top of the partition, and the shards hit the neck of the Palmeiras fan, who was on the other side. The main evidence against him is a 3D report, based on a laser scan of the scene, carried out by the IC (Institute of Criminalistics) of São Paulo, virtually reproducing the fight between the fans of the two teams. A drone was also used to capture aerial images that helped to precisely delimit the reproduced area, which included avatars as characters. The IC team recorded on video the path of the thrown bottle, which crossed the gate between the fans and caused a bang, according to the institute.
According to the IC technicians, the video reinforces the hypothesis that Jonathan threw the bottle that injured Gabriela in the neck and caused her death. Attorney Yohann Sade, who represents the family of the young woman who died, said that the result of the jury on Tuesday was a response to society, not just to Gabriela’s relatives. “It was almost two years of pain, silence and waiting. But now, the truth has found its voice,” he said. “The conviction of the defendant is a response not only to Gabriela’s family, but to all of Brazilian society. The message is clear: the life of a fan is worth no less than the passion of a crowd. Those who kill will be held accountable. Those who assault will be judged.” According to him, although no judicial conviction can bring Gabriela back, the result brought relief to her family. “The family received the sentence with tears,” he said.
