Isabelly Oliveira Assuncao, three, drowned when she climbed onto a side and fell into a top loaded washing machine while under the care of her stepmother in Parana, Brazil
A wicked stepmother is accused of tricking a little girl into falling into a top loaded washing machine full of water where she drowned by placing her toys inside.
Isabelly Oliveira Assuncao, three, lived with her mother but spent Fridays and Saturdays with her father. When he was working, she was left in the care of her stepmother Suzana Dazar dos Santos.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Parana, in Brazil, has accused dos Santos of arranging Isabelly’s drowning by carefully putting her favourite toys inside, with a footstool nearby. The appliance was full of water and she was left alone for half an hour.
A spokesman for the Public Prosecutor’s Office said: “The defendant foresaw and consciously assumed the risk of causing the victim’s death. [She] placed a plastic stool in front of the washing machine, which was full of water.”
They added dos Santos “placed some of the child’s toys inside the aforementioned appliance” and “placed Isabelly on the bench so she could play with the objects in the water”.
Dos Santos was charged with willful homicide for a vile motive, use of asphyxiation and domestic and family violence, with the charges accepted by the authorities on 14th January.
Her lawyers Paulo Hara Junior and Suelane Gundim claim the accusation is exaggerated and what happened was “an accident.”
They insisted the stepmother and stepdaughter had a good relationship and “there is no evidence she intended to take her life.” Gundim said: “We understand there is no intent, there are no marks, nothing mentioning this in the process.”
A lawyer for Isabelly’s unnamed mum, Alexander Beilner, said: “She prepared the entire situation for the crime to happen. The machine, the stool, she was wearing socks, the toys were placed in the water.
“Based on her family history, she was not one to play, several indications lead us to believe that everything was prepared, so that it would result in death. The fact she spent more than 30 minutes alone in a laundry room in these serious circumstances.
“All of this evidence in the records show it was a deliberate act by the stepmother.”
The defence now has 10 days to formally respond to the accusations, after which a judge will decide whether to maintain the charges, in which case the case will go to trial by jury, or to amend the charges.