A second child has died after a woman allegedly sent a family “poisoned Easter eggs” in a bid to get “revenge” on her ex-boyfriend.
According to tragic reports, Mirian Lira, from Brazil, received chocolate Easter eggs accompanied by a note that read: “With love, to Mirian Lira. Happy Easter.”
Mirian shared the eggs with her two children, but things quickly took a turn for the terrifying when her son Luis, 7, fell “severely ill”. Luis was found unresponsive, and despite his father performing CPR before he was rushed to hospital, he slipped into cardiac arrest and passed away last Thursday, April 17.
Mirian and her daughter, Evelyn Silva, were already at hospital when they began to feel ill. Both reportedly showed symptoms of alleged poisoning, including struggling to breathe and their hands turning purple.
A heartbreaking update – as reported by British source Metro – now claims that Evelyn, aged 13, then passed away on Monday, April 21. Her cause of death has been cited as vascular shock caused by multiple organ failure.
Imperatriz Municipal Hospital said in a statement: “Unfortunately, the clinical condition showed serious and rapid deterioration without responding to treatment.”
Police have since arrested a woman named Jordélia Pereira Barbosa, the ex-partner of Rafael Silva, father to Luis and Evelyn. The arrest was made as she was stepping off a bus traveling from Imperatriz to her home city of Santa Ines after authorities reviewed security footage from a shop where she appeared to buy the Easter egg while wearing a wig.
Officers also seized two wigs, more chocolate, medicine and bus tickets, one of which was bought on 14 April, two days prior to the Easter eggs being delivered to Mirian Lira’s family home.
Barbosa is said to have told police that she bought the eggs before Easter, but claimed not to have poisoned them.
A statement released by the police reads: “The initial investigations point that jealousy and revenge may have been the motivation for the woman to poison chocolate and send it to her family, given that the investigated is the ex-girlfriend of the current partner of one of the victims.
“The Maranhão Civil Police arrived to the investigated after analyzing images from security cameras of Imperatriz’s commercial establishment, where the suspect appears, who was wearing a wig, buying chocolate.
“In addition, the arrest was based on testimonies from witnesses and family members indicating the woman as the main suspect of committing the crime.”
Mirian Lira reportedly remains in hospital in a stable condition.