Three people walked into that apartment alive. Two came out.
Em março de 2021, Henry Borel, de quatro anos, morreu com vinte e três lesões violentas no corpo — feridas que a autópsia declarou incompatíveis com qualquer acidente doméstico. Cinco anos depois, o julgamento de seu padrasto e de sua mãe ainda não começou: na segunda-feira, a defesa abandonou o tribunal em protesto, e a audiência foi adiada para 25 de maio. O caso carrega, em sua lentidão, uma pergunta que o pai de Henry repete desde o início — o que, de fato, aconteceu dentro daquele apartamento?
- O julgamento entrou em colapso antes mesmo de começar: a defesa de Jairinho deixou o tribunal após o juiz negar o pedido de adiamento por acesso incompleto aos autos.
- A ruptura expôs uma tensão mais profunda — a defesa alega que documentos requisitados desde agosto de 2025 nunca foram entregues integralmente, tornando impossível, segundo ela, qualquer julgamento justo.
- Enquanto isso, a juíza determinou a soltura de Monique Medeiros por excesso de prazo na prisão preventiva, numa decisão que contrariou até a própria defesa da ré.
- Leniel Borel, pai de Henry, chegou ao fórum carregando cinco anos de luto — mais tempo do que teve para criar o filho — e deixou o local sem resposta, apenas com a promessa de uma nova data.
- O julgamento foi remarcado para 25 de maio, com a promotoria afirmando ter provas irrefutáveis de tortura sistemática e a defesa sinalizando que não recuará em suas exigências processuais.
O julgamento de Jairo Souza Santos Júnior, o Dr. Jairinho, e de Monique Medeiros, mãe de Henry Borel, não chegou a começar na segunda-feira. A defesa de Jairinho abandonou o tribunal logo após a juíza Elizabeth Machado Louro negar o pedido de adiamento, alegando que documentos solicitados desde agosto de 2025 não haviam sido entregues de forma completa. "Querem voltar a manipular a opinião pública contra nós", disse o advogado Rodrigo Faucz. A audiência foi remarcada para 25 de maio.
Henry tinha quatro anos quando morreu na madrugada de 8 de março de 2021, no apartamento da família em Barra da Tijuca, no Rio de Janeiro. O casal o levou a um hospital particular alegando acidente doméstico. A autópsia contradisse essa versão: foram encontradas vinte e três lesões violentas, incluindo laceração no fígado e hemorragia interna — marcas de agressão, não de queda. A investigação da polícia civil concluiu que Henry foi submetido a torturas sistemáticas pelo padrasto, com conhecimento da mãe. Ambos foram presos em abril de 2021.
Jairinho responde por homicídio qualificado; Monique, por homicídio por omissão de socorro. A promotoria afirma que, em ao menos três ocasiões em fevereiro de 2021, Jairinho infligiu sofrimento físico e psicológico à criança. "Não há dúvida de que Jairo torturou Henry Borel com crueldade", disse o promotor Cristiano Medina da Rocha. "Este crime aconteceu porque Monique abandonou seu dever sagrado de proteger o filho."
Leniel Borel, pai de Henry, esteve no fórum. Ele passou mais tempo aguardando justiça do que teve para criar o filho. "A condenação é o mínimo para esses dois monstros", disse. "Três pessoas entraram vivas naquele apartamento. O que aconteceu com o meu filho lá dentro? Acho que nunca vão nos contar." Em maio, ele voltará — com as mesmas perguntas, e a esperança de que o tribunal finalmente responda.
The trial of Henry Borel never began on Monday. Instead, the courtroom at Rio de Janeiro's Second Jury Court emptied when the defense team for Jairo Souza Santos Júnior—the boy's stepfather, known as Dr. Jairinho—walked out in protest over what they said was incomplete access to evidence. Judge Elizabeth Machado Louro had just denied their request to postpone the proceedings. The trial, which was supposed to determine whether Jairinho and Henry's mother, Monique Medeiros, were responsible for the child's death, was rescheduled for May 25.
Henry was four years old when he died in the early morning hours of March 8, 2021, in the apartment where he lived with his mother and stepfather in Barra da Tijuca, a neighborhood in southwestern Rio. The couple brought him to a private hospital claiming he had suffered a domestic accident. The autopsy told a different story. The medical examiner found twenty-three violent injuries across his body, including a lacerated liver and internal bleeding. The injuries were not consistent with an accident. They were consistent with assault.
Rodrigo Faucz, one of Jairinho's defense attorneys, argued that proceeding without complete documentation was impossible. He said the defense had requested the materials on August 12, 2025, that the judge had ordered them produced, but that only partial information had been delivered. "They want to turn public opinion against us again," Faucz said. "This is absurd." The judge also ordered the release of Monique Medeiros, citing the excessive time she had already spent in custody. Her defense team, notably, had opposed the trial postponement.
Leniel Borel, Henry's father, arrived at the courthouse carrying five years of waiting. He has now spent more time grieving his son than he spent raising him. "Conviction is the minimum for those two monsters," he said. "Three people walked into that apartment alive. Two adults and one child came out. What happened to my son in there? I don't think they'll ever tell us what happened." His words carried the weight of someone who has watched the legal system move slowly while his loss remained absolute.
The investigation by Rio's civil police concluded that Henry had been subjected to systematic torture by his stepfather and that his mother knew about the violence. Jairinho and Monique were arrested in April 2021. The public prosecutor's office charged Jairinho with qualified homicide—the deliberate, conscious infliction of blunt-force trauma that caused the child's death. Monique was charged with homicide by omission of aid, the legal term for failing to protect someone in her care. According to prosecutors, on three separate occasions in February 2021, Jairinho had subjected Henry to physical and psychological suffering through violence.
Cristiano Medina da Rocha, the assistant prosecutor, said the evidence leaves no room for doubt. "There is no question that Jairo tortured Henry Borel cruelly," he said. "This crime happened because Monique Medeiros abandoned her sacred duty to protect her son." The prosecution's case rests on the autopsy findings, the pattern of injuries, and the investigation's conclusion that the violence was systematic, not accidental.
Now the courtroom waits. The defense has signaled it will not proceed without what it considers complete access to the case file. The judge has set a new date. Henry's father will return to the courthouse in May, carrying the same questions he has carried for five years, waiting to hear what the law will finally say about what happened behind that apartment door.
Citações Notáveis
Three people walked into that apartment alive. Two adults and one child came out. What happened to my son in there?— Leniel Borel, Henry's father
There is no question that Jairo tortured Henry Borel cruelly. This crime happened because Monique Medeiros abandoned her sacred duty to protect her son.— Cristiano Medina da Rocha, assistant prosecutor
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did the defense team walk out? Wasn't that a risky move?
They said they didn't have access to all the evidence. The judge denied their request to delay, so they left. It's a gamble—it looks like obstruction to some people, but they're arguing they can't mount a proper defense without the full file.
And the judge released the mother. What does that signal?
She'd been held too long without trial. The law says there's a limit. But her own lawyers didn't want the trial postponed, which is interesting—they may have felt confident enough to proceed, or they wanted to move forward regardless.
The autopsy found twenty-three injuries. How do you even get to that number on a four-year-old?
That's the question Leniel Borel asked. The injuries included a lacerated liver and internal bleeding. The hospital claim was an accident. The medical evidence said otherwise.
Five years. He's been waiting five years.
Longer than he had with his son. He said that himself. That's the weight people don't always see in these cases—the time that passes, the grief that compounds.
What happens in May?
The trial starts, if the defense doesn't walk out again. The prosecution says the evidence is irrefutable. The defense says they need to see everything first. One way or another, the courtroom will finally hear what happened.