Her Parents Always Feared for Her Life, and Their Fear Was Right
Gabriela Ribeiro’s parents never let her go out alone due to the violence in their city
From March 2002 to March 2003, at least 30 people were fatally hit by stray bullets in the picture-postcard city of Rio de Janeiro. The 14-year-old Gabriela Prado Maia Ribeiro, who was not allowed to go out alone due to the violence present in the city, joined the statistics the day she would experience freedom for the first time.
Cleyde Prado Maia Ribeiro and Carlos Santiago Ribeiro were both psychologists and citizens of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They chose to have an only daughter so that they could provide her with a comfortable life and total dedication. The violence in the city also played an important role in their decision. Conflicts between police and criminals, armed robbery, and stray bullets are a sad reality that they would now have to fear twice with the arrival of their child. On the 30th of August 1988, Gabriela Prado Maia Ribeiro was born.
From a young age, Gabriela demonstrated to have a big heart. She used to raise food donations for orphanages and nursing homes, won an outstanding award in her school for being a dedicated student, and wanted to study veterinary medicine at university. She nurtured empathy for the underdogs in society and loved her country above all others. “You couldn’t bad-mouth Brazil,” said Carlos.
Gabriela was not allowed to go out by herself as her parents feared for her life. But as a teenager, she would always ask for greater freedom. All of her friends could take the bus and the subway alone, so why couldn’t she?
On March 25, 2003, Cleyde decided to allow Gabriela to take the subway alone for the first time. She knew that sooner or later her daughter would have to experience independence, so it felt right to let her take a three-minute ride alone.
Around 3:30 p.m. Gabriela left home, crossed the street, and arrived at the São Francisco Xavier station. Her father believes that this walking must not have taken more than a minute. Gabriela would get off at the next station to meet her mother.
She couldn’t imagine that her happy moment would be preceded by her death.
Cleyde grew worried when three minutes passed and Gabriela hadn’t called to tell if something had happened. It was a short distance and Cleyde knew it shouldn’t be long.
That same hour, two ticket agents and a security guard were held at gunpoint by robbers at the São Francisco Xavier station, who then proceeded to steal R$ 619 from the token booth, besides travel tickets and transportation vouchers.
When a police officer advanced toward the booth to buy a ticket, the robbers noticed that he had a volume under his shirt that seemed to be a firearm. The officer was then put in a chokehold, shot, and had his .40 Taurus pistol stolen.
The robbery escalated into an exchange of fire when another policeman entered the subway and drew his gun after being shot.
Gabriela walked down the subway stairs without realizing she was in the middle of the crossfire. When she noticed the presence of the robbers, she immediately tried to run out of there, but it was too late.
She was shot in the chest and managed to get out of the subway before getting on her knees and falling face down. A woman who worked as a street vendor nearby the station saw that the girl was still alive and stood by her side in an effort to comfort her. In a matter of five minutes, Gabriela died.
When Cleyde became aware of the confrontation, she called Carlos. She told him that three people had been shot at the São Francisco Xavier station and she feared that Gabriela might be one of them. Carlos then rushed to the station while Cleyde took a taxi to the hospital where her daughter was taken.
When Carlos arrived at the station, Gabriela’s body had already been taken to hospital, but her blood-stained glasses were still lying on the ground. There was no doubt left for him.
Five men involved in the subway robbery were charged with robbery causing bodily injury. Three of them were repeat offenders. Their sentences ranged from 19 to 36 years in prison and a fine.
The medical examiner revealed that Gabriela was shot by the .40 pistol which belonged to the police officer and was eventually stolen. Initially, it was not possible to determine who fired the shot that killed Gabriela, leading investigators to reconstruct the crime scene. However, no one has been convicted of her murder.
The search for justice
After the tragedy, the life of Gabriela’s parents changed completely. The psychologists paused their careers to dedicate their time to the movement Gabriela Sou da Paz (Gabriela I’m for Peace), created by Gabriela’s parents and formed by volunteers, victims of violence, relatives of victims, and anyone who wants to fight for change. Together they carried out a national mobilization campaign with the aim of collecting 1,2 million signatures for a proposal of Constitutional amendment that alters the Brazilian Penal Code in order to eliminate loopholes in the law that allow defendants to be free and practice other crimes.
The campaign collected 1,3 million signatures and forwarded them to the National Congress on March 8, 2006.
