The Criminal Section of the Pernambuco Court of Justice decided to uphold Sarí Corte Real's seven-year prison sentence in closed regime for abandonment of an incapable person resulting in death.
The decision was taken on Thursday afternoon (21) after a 5-5 tie among the judges. Session president Mauro Alencar cast the deciding vote in favor of upholding the sentence.
Sarí's defense, represented by Célio Avelino, argued against repeated use of the victim's age in setting the penalty and plans to appeal to the STJ and STF. Lawyer Jailson Rocha, representing Miguel's mother Mirtes Renata Santana de Souza, defended the original sentence.
Five-year-old Miguel Otávio Santana da Silva died in 2020 after falling from the ninth floor of a building in downtown Recife while under Sarí's care. The defendant has remained free since her 2022 conviction.