Maryna Colucci de Jesus worked with children before her name entered a homicide investigation. The 34-year-old trans woman was an early-childhood teacher and child-protection councilor in Jacuí, a municipality in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where her public work placed her alongside children and adolescents facing threats or violations of their rights.
She disappeared on Aug. 21 after leaving her parents’ home. Her family searched for her, and the municipality circulated an appeal asking for information about her whereabouts. Four days later, investigators found Maryna dead in a rural area near Jacuí.
A serving Minas Gerais Military Police sergeant, José Sérgio de Oliveira, later admitted that he fired the shots that killed her and concealed her body. He also provided information that led investigators to where Maryna had been buried. A court ordered him held in preventive detention while the investigation continues.
The forensic evidence documented six gunshot wounds to Maryna’s head. Investigators found her in a grave estimated at roughly 1.5 to 2 meters deep.
Oliveira told authorities that Maryna attacked him with a knife. Investigators recovered a knife, but Civil Police investigator Marcos Pimenta has publicly questioned whether Oliveira’s account fits the physical evidence, citing the absence of injuries on Oliveira and the number and location of Maryna’s gunshot wounds.
In ordering Oliveira’s preventive detention, Judge Elisandra Alice dos Santos Camilo described the shots as having been fired directly toward Maryna’s face and said she had no opportunity to defend herself.
Investigators are also examining the relationship between Maryna and Oliveira. After her disappearance, relatives found diaries, photographs and messages indicating an intimate relationship between them. Those materials are now part of the investigation into what happened before Maryna was killed and whether the relationship played any role in her death.
The Minas Gerais Civil Police are investigating Maryna’s killing as feminicide and the concealment of her body as a separate offense. Police are also examining whether anyone helped move or bury her. Investigators have questioned whether one person could have handled the concealment alone given the circumstances of the grave, but the inquiry into possible assistance remains open.
Because Oliveira is a serving Military Police sergeant, his admitted conduct has also triggered an administrative proceeding within the force while Civil Police continue investigating Maryna’s killing.
The next test is accountability. Trans United will keep tracking what investigators establish, how Maryna Colucci de Jesus’s case moves through the courts, and whether the official record answers the questions that remain.
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Sources
Folha de S.Paulo — Maryna Colucci de Jesus found dead in rural Minas Gerais
O Tempo — Police sergeant admits killing Maryna; preventive detention ordered
O Tempo — Police investigate whether others helped conceal Maryna’s body
Estado de Minas — Police sergeant held preventively in Maryna investigation
Observatório G — Relationship becomes part of Maryna investigation