Mother confesses to having medicated her daughter before the child was found dead

The Civil Police of Rio Grande do Sul is investigating the cause of death of Kerollyn Souza Ferreira, just 9 years old, found dead last Friday (09) in a garbage container in Guaíba, metropolitan region of Porto Alegre (RS).

At the time, the body was discovered inside the container by a recycler, who called the Military Police. It was a unit of the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU) that, after being called, confirmed the girl’s death.

According to what authorities have learned so far, the child had already suffered episodes of violence and was constantly neglected by her mother, with whom she lived. The woman was temporarily arrested after the child’s death and is being investigated for possible involvement and negligence in relation to the child’s well-being.

Forensics were called in, but found no apparent signs of violence on the body, which led the police to suspect that the cause of death may be related to the ingestion of some type of substance.

In a recent statement to the police, the woman confessed to having self-medicated and medicated her daughter hours before the girl was found dead.

According to what the mother reported to the authorities, at around 9:30 pm on Friday (09), the victim was at home with her. The mother then allegedly gave the girl risperidone, an antipsychotic medication designed to treat patients with mental disorders, with a prescription, and one gram of clonazepam, used to prevent and treat seizures and disorders. The use of clonazepam was not prescribed. The mother also medicated herself with the drug. Afterwards, they both allegedly went to sleep.

The woman woke up around 7am the next day. When she saw that the child was not at home, she took more medication and went back to sleep.

The aggressor only woke up again with the presence of military police officers in her house who informed her about the discovery of the body of a girl with characteristics compatible with her dead daughter in a landfill. The mother then reportedly stated that she did not know where her daughter was, even claiming to the police that a neighbor was responsible for the child’s death.

Neglecting the daughter

As revealed by the investigations to date, the girl was constantly physically abused by her mother. On some occasions, she was given inappropriate medication by her guardian.

The mother often said that the girl had outbursts. In one of the episodes, the child, with scratch wounds on her face, was admitted to a hospital, after the mother claimed that the child had allegedly attempted suicide. Before the hospital became available, the woman fled the hospital with her daughter.

On another occasion, the girl was attacked by her mother with a slotted spoon. As a result of the attacks, the child ended up in the hospital once again.

According to police, the girl used to ask neighbors for food when she was hungry and also took food to eat from the same container where she was found.

The cause of the victim’s death is still under investigation and has not yet been clarified. Now, the investigation aims to verify the existence of medications or substances in the body that may have caused the girl’s death.