PORTUGAL - Jéssica, 3, suspicious death, multiple arrests

[Lusitana]

Jéssica spent 5 days at her babysitter's home. When her mother picked her up on Monday, June 20th, the 3-year-old child had several bruises on her face. The mother questioned the babysitter about the bruises, and was informed that the child had suffered an accidental fall.

The mother took her home, Jéssica was sleeping and eventually suffered a cardiac arrest, which prompted the mother to call for medical assistance around 5:40PM. The victim was then transported, in serious condition, to the Hospital de Setúbal, where she died.

The child was giving Hydroxyzine. The child's mother is unemployed and sings Fado on the weekends. She has 5 other children, Jéssica was the only one in her custody and Child Protective Services were involved with her and her siblings.

The mother, the stepfather and the babysitter were interrogated. The babysitter fled to Leiria and was found in an abandoned house and is currently in LE's custody.

LE investigates the death of a child on suspicion of mistreatment by a babysitter
LE searched the houses of the mother and the babysitter of the girl who died in Setúbal
Child death in Setúbal: babysitter fled to Leiria and was found in an abandoned house

 

[TTF14]

Hmmmm, "babysitter," eh? For an unemployed mother? For five days?

 

[Lusitana]

Death of child in Setúbal: mother changed version of what happened

Contradictory versions begin to emerge about what happened to Jéssica, the three-year-old girl who died in Setúbal. It is now known that the child had several bruises on her body and had pieces of hair pulled out.

The three-year-old had bruises on her face, stomach, legs and arms.

Initially, the mother said that the child fell at school, and then said she had been with a babysitter.

 

[Lusitana]

Hmmmm, "babysitter," eh? For an unemployed mother? For five days?

Pretty sure she wasn't getting paid. The babysitter was arrested, she actually exists.

 

[Lusitana]

Witness claims that Jéssica suffered abuse at the hands of her mother

The stepfather reported that, a month ago, the child had been assaulted and that he had several marks on her face when he was under her godmother's care.

I don't know if the babysitter and the godmother are the same person.

 

[Lusitana]

The mother of the three-year-old who died on Monday, after being kidnapped, told the Police that she didn't report the abduction because she was under threat from the couple who had taken her. The babysitter story was then invented: the woman now suspected of various crimes was never the child's babysitter.

Jéssica's mother says she hid her daughter's abduction and did not alert the police because she was under threat to pay 800 euros

 

[Lusitana]

The Police revealed in a statement, released this Thursday morning, that a 58-year-old man and two women, aged 52 and 27, were identified and detained "because there's strong evidence of the of the crimes of qualified homicide, offenses causing serious bodily harm, kidnapping and extortion" related to the child.

Witness claims that Jéssica suffered abuse at the hands of her mother

The three people arrested were the fake babysitter, her husband and her daughter. It appears the fake babysitter's husband also participated in the abuse and the daughter is being charged for not reporting the abuse.

 

[Lusitana]

Jéssica was beaten to death over a witchcraft debt.

Keeps getting worse. Apparently, the mother contacted the "babysitter" to do some witchcraft on the stepfather of the child. The mother was afraid he would leave her so she requested a binding spell (it translates to this, not sure if makes sense), which cost around 400€ she didn't pay it so the price kept going up.