A seven-year-old child has died and two others have been taken to hospital in a serious condition after allegedly consuming a poisoned Easter egg. A 35-year-old woman – the ex-girlfriend of one of the victim’s current partner – has been arrested in the Médio Mearim region of northern Brazil.
Jordélia Pereira Barbosa was detained by police on Thursday, accused of sending the tainted chocolate to a family in Santa Ines, also in northern Brazil. LuÃs Fernando Rocha Silva died in the early hours of Thursday morning, while his mother, Mirian Lira, 32, and sister, Evelyn Fernanda, 13, remain in hospital.
The unsuspecting family received the Easter egg via a motorcycle courier on Wednesday night. A message from an anonymous sender accompanied the egg, which read: “With love, to Mirian Lira. Happy Easter.”
Mirian reportedly also received a mysterious phone call from an unknown individual later that night. The caller remained silent when the mother of two asked who was on the line, but enquired whether she had received the Easter egg. The mother’s sister, Naiza, said: “The woman on the phone said ‘you’ll find out who it is’. And she hung up and didn’t say anything.”
Police have launched an investigation into the disturbing case and confirmed that samples of the potentially deadly egg were swiftly sent for analysis at the Imperatriz Criminalistics Institute.