Girl shot dead over her brother’s drug activities

POSTO DA MATA, BRAZIL – OCTOBER 8, 2017 Gabriela Vilas Boas (a.k.a. Gabi) and her friend Poliana Silva Lucas attended a teenage party. There was a slight disagreement with the other participants, so the girls decided to leave the party and hitchhike back home. As they were standing on the side of the road hitchhiking, a red motorbike with two men on it stopped and they started shooting.

Gabi was hit in the face, arm, stomach and hip and died on the spot. Her friend Polina was hit in the back of the head, shoulder and arm, she survived and managed to escape. She ran, covered in blood, to the party, where she asked for help.

The police investigation found that the attack was linked to Gabi’s brother, Paulo Henrique Gonçalves Batista (a.k.a. PH), 24. He was murdered on 5 February 2017 because of his drug activities. Gabi was alleged to know the names of his killers, so they decided to get rid of her so that she could not testify in court.

Gabi and her brother PH