Three people walked in alive. Two adults and one child walked out dead.
No coração do Rio de Janeiro, o julgamento pelo assassinato de Henry Borel — uma criança de quatro anos morta em março de 2021 com vinte e três ferimentos violentos — foi adiado para 25 de maio após a defesa abandonar o tribunal em protesto pela ausência de provas completas. O caso, que há cinco anos pesa sobre a consciência pública brasileira, coloca frente a frente o padrasto acusado de tortura e a mãe acusada de negligência criminosa. Para o pai de Henry, cada adiamento é mais um dia em que a justiça permanece suspensa entre a verdade e o silêncio.
- A defesa de Jairinho abandonou a sala de audiências ao vivo, recusando-se a prosseguir sem acesso completo à documentação — um gesto que paralisou um julgamento aguardado há cinco anos.
- A juíza rejeitou o pedido de adiamento, mas a saída da defesa tornou o prosseguimento impossível, revelando a fragilidade dos procedimentos em um caso de altíssimo perfil.
- Monique Medeiros, mãe de Henry, foi solta por atrasos processuais — uma decisão que contrariou até sua própria defesa e gerou indignação pública.
- O promotor manteve a confiança nas provas, afirmando que os fatos documentados — incluindo três episódios de violência em fevereiro de 2021 — são suficientes para condenar ambos os acusados.
- Leniel Borel, pai da criança, chegou ao tribunal já sabendo que o julgamento não aconteceria, carregando cinco anos de luto e a pergunta que ninguém ainda respondeu: o que aconteceu dentro daquele apartamento.
Na manhã de segunda-feira, o tribunal do centro do Rio de Janeiro esvaziou-se antes mesmo de o julgamento começar. A equipe de defesa de Jairo Souza Santos Júnior — o Dr. Jairinho, padrasto de Henry Borel — deixou a sala após a juíza Elizabeth Machado Louro rejeitar o pedido de adiamento baseado na falta de acesso a documentos e provas. Com a defesa ausente, o julgamento foi remarcado para 25 de maio, adiando mais uma vez um processo que deveria ter começado anos atrás.
Henry Borel tinha quatro anos quando morreu na madrugada de 8 de março de 2021, no apartamento que dividia com sua mãe, Monique Medeiros, e o companheiro dela, no bairro da Barra da Tijuca. Os adultos alegaram acidente doméstico. A autópsia revelou vinte e três lesões compatíveis com trauma violento — fígado lacerado, hemorragia interna, marcas de sofrimento sistemático. A investigação concluiu que o menino foi submetido a torturas repetidas pelo padrasto, enquanto a mãe, ciente do que ocorria, nada fez para protegê-lo.
O advogado de defesa Rodrigo Faucz argumentou que sua equipe havia solicitado os materiais em agosto de 2025 e recebido apenas informações parciais. Sem acesso completo às provas, afirmou, um julgamento justo seria impossível. A juíza discordou. A defesa foi embora. A mesma magistrada ordenou ainda a soltura de Monique Medeiros por atrasos processuais — decisão que sua própria defesa havia se oposto.
O promotor Cristiano Medina da Rocha manteve-se firme: as provas são sólidas, os fatos estão documentados, e não há dúvida sobre o que Jairinho fez à criança. Já Leniel Borel, pai de Henry, chegou ao fórum sabendo que o dia seria mais um de espera. Ele passou mais tempo lutando por justiça do que teve com o filho. 'Três pessoas entraram vivas naquele apartamento', disse. 'Dois adultos e uma criança saíram mortos.' O julgamento recomeça em 25 de maio.
The courtroom in downtown Rio de Janeiro emptied on Monday when the defense team for Jairo Souza Santos Júnior—known as Dr. Jairinho, the stepfather of four-year-old Henry Borel—walked out rather than proceed with trial. The judge, Elizabeth Machado Louro, had just rejected their request to postpone the proceedings, citing insufficient access to evidence and documentation. With the defense gone, the trial was adjourned to May 25, pushing back what should have been the beginning of a reckoning five years in the making.
Henry Borel died in the early morning hours of March 8, 2021, in the apartment he shared with his mother, Monique Medeiros, and her partner in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood. He was taken to a private hospital in the same district, where the adults claimed he had suffered a domestic accident. The autopsy told a different story. The medical examiner's office documented twenty-three injuries consistent with violent trauma—a lacerated liver, internal bleeding, wounds that spoke of systematic harm. Police investigators concluded the boy had endured repeated torture at the hands of his stepfather, and that his mother knew what was happening and did nothing.
Jairinho and Medeiros were arrested in April 2021 and charged by the Rio de Janeiro Public Ministry. He faces a charge of qualified homicide. She faces homicide through negligent failure to provide aid. The prosecution's case rests on the argument that Jairinho, acting with full intent and conscious will, inflicted the blunt-force injuries that killed the child, while Medeiros, as the boy's legal guardian, abandoned her fundamental duty to protect him and in doing so became complicit in his death. Prosecutors also documented three separate incidents in February 2021 in which Jairinho subjected Henry to physical and psychological suffering through violence.
On the morning the trial was supposed to begin, Rodrigo Faucz, one of Jairinho's defense attorneys, objected that his team had not received complete documentation. They had requested the materials on August 12, 2025, he said, and received only partial information. The judge ordered the materials delivered. They arrived incomplete. Without full access to the evidence, Faucz argued, a fair trial was impossible. When the judge refused to delay, the defense team left the courtroom.
The same judge who adjourned the trial also ordered the release of Monique Medeiros, Henry's mother, citing procedural delays—a decision her own legal team had opposed. The prosecution's assistant, Cristiano Medina da Rocha, expressed confidence in the evidence regardless. "There is no doubt that Jairo tortured Henry Borel in a cruel manner," he said. "This crime occurred because Monique Medeiros abandoned her sacred duty to protect her son."
Leniel Borel, Henry's father, arrived at the courthouse on Monday knowing the trial would not proceed. He has spent five years grieving and fighting for accountability—longer, he noted, than the time he actually had with his son. "Three people walked into that apartment alive," he said. "Two adults and one child walked out dead. What happened to my son in there? I don't think they're ever going to tell us." He called conviction the bare minimum for what he described as two monsters. The trial will resume on May 25, when the question of what happened in that apartment will finally be tested in front of a jury.
Citas Notables
There is no doubt that Jairo tortured Henry Borel in a cruel manner. This crime occurred because Monique Medeiros abandoned her sacred duty to protect her son.— Cristiano Medina da Rocha, prosecution assistant
The defense requested these materials on August 12, 2025. The judge ordered them delivered. We received only partial information.— Rodrigo Faucz, defense attorney for Jairinho
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the defense team walk out? Wasn't that a risky move?
They claimed they didn't have access to the full evidence—documents, reports, data they'd requested months earlier. When the judge refused to delay the trial, they left rather than proceed without what they said they needed. It's a gamble: you look obstructionist, but you also create grounds to argue later that the trial was unfair.
And the mother was released. Does that mean she's going free?
Not exactly. The judge released her because of procedural delays—the case has been pending too long. But she's still charged with homicide through negligence. She'll face trial when it resumes in May. Her own lawyers had actually opposed the delay, which tells you something about the pressure this case is under.
What does the evidence actually show happened?
The autopsy found twenty-three injuries from violent trauma. A lacerated liver. Internal bleeding. The police investigation concluded the stepfather tortured the boy repeatedly, and the mother knew and did nothing. The prosecution has documented at least three separate violent incidents in the month before the child died.
And the father—what's his stake in all this?
He's been waiting five years for this moment. He pointed out that he's now spent more time mourning his son than he actually had with him alive. He wants answers about what happened in that apartment, and he wants conviction. He called it the minimum.
Do you think the trial will actually happen in May?
That's the question everyone's asking. There are procedural issues, evidence disputes, and now a walkout on record. But the prosecution seems confident in what they have. The case has too much public attention to disappear.