Brazil Probes Holiday-Era Killings and Crashes as Police Arrest 4 in Teen Decapitation

Overview

• Four men were detained in Cunha Porã after a 15-year-old was found decapitated, with the victim’s head recovered nearby during follow-up searches.
• Investigators in Santa Catarina are testing two motive lines in the teen’s killing, citing a possible drug debt or a quarrel, and are seeking videos reportedly recorded by suspects.
• In Ribeirão Preto, 6-year-old Guilherme da Silva Maia died after a Jan. 1 hit-and-run, shifting the inquiry to negligent homicide (homicídio culposo) as police examine the seized car and gather new images and witnesses.
• The alleged driver, singer Gustavo Perissoto de Oliveira, presented himself to police, gave a statement, and was released, while the child’s mother remains hospitalized with multiple fractures.
• Separate probes continue into a riverside couple shot dead in Pará and a BR-116 crash in Paraná that killed six van passengers, with the truck driver’s claim of a prior robbery under review.