Brazilian councilman 'murdered his four-year-old stepson because he thought the boy "would get in the way of his relationship" and once locked himself in room with the child, turned up the TV, and brutally beat him'

 A Brazilian councilman has been arrested for the alleged murder of his four-year-old stepson.

Jairo Santos, who is also known as Dr. Jairinho, has been charged with triple qualified homicide, torture and witness tampering over the March 8 killing of Henry Borel at their home in Brazil.

Santos' girlfriend, Monique Modeiros, who is the boy's mother, is being held on charges which include triple qualified homicide, omissive torture, making false statements, and witness coercion.  

The couple had rushed Henry to Barra D'Or Hospital at 3am on March 8 after he became unresponsive. The child was declared dead upon arriving at the medical facility.

Authorities became suspicious of the couple due to the varying statements that they collected from the parents, which were different from what doctors at Barra D'Or Hospital had gathered.

Santos told the hospital that he believed that Borel had gone into cardiac arrest and decided to drive him to the hospital to seek emergency treatment.

Modeiros told the medical facility that she rushed to her son's room after she was awaken by a loud noise and discovered Borel lying on the floor face down.

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Henry Borel died March 8 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The four-year-old's death was caused by 'internal hemorrhage and hepatic laceration [liver damage] caused by a blunt [violent] action.' A judge on Thursday announced that Jairo Santos and Monique Modeiros are being charged with with homicide and torture, and placed them in pre-trial custody

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Jairo Santos, who is also known as Dr. Jairinho, has been charged with triple qualified homicide, torture and witness tampering. Monique Modeiros is being held on charges which include triple qualified homicide, omissive torture, making false statements, and witness coercion

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Henry Borel (center) with his stepfather Rio de Janeiro councilman Jairo Santos (left) and his mother Monique Medeiros (right)

During an interview with the police on March 17, Modeiros told detectives that she woke up approximately at 3:30am and heard the sound of tv coming from her son's bedroom. When she went inside she saw the child was unresponsive.

The councilman, who graduated from medical school but never practiced medicine, said he was sleeping when Modeiros discovered that Borel had fallen on the floor and that the boy's 'eyes rolled and his hand and feet (were) cold.'

According to doctors, Borel displayed injuries to the live, skull, stomach, lungs.

The medical examiner ruled that his death was caused by 'internal hemorrhage and hepatic laceration [liver damage] caused by a blunt [violent] action.'

On Thursday, the couple appeared in court where Judge Elizabeth Machado from the 2nd Criminal court of the Rio de Janeiro State Court of Justice ordered them to remain in jail  

The judge's order was handed down just two days before a 30-day temporary imprisonment order was set to expire, according to Brazilian online news outlet G1. 

'It is worth pointing out that the modus operandi of the suspects reinforces the risk to which public order will be exposed, as well as social peace if the accused are released,' Machado said. 

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According to doctors, Henry Borel displayed injuries to the live, skull, stomach, lungs

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Rio de Janeiro councilman Jairo Santos  (center) is led into a prison on April 8

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Monique Medeiros (center) accompanied by authorities on April  8 when she was taken into custody. She has been in prison since as prosecutors investigate her for the death of her four-year-old son

The court also heard about Santos alleged history of abuse of the boy.

In February, Santos had reportedly locked himself in the boy's bedroom and turned the television sound as high as he could and then proceeded to beat his stepson. Borel and his nanny Thayná Oliveira spoke to Modeiros about the incident while she was visiting a beauty salon.

Borel, according to the babysitter, was taken by the arm and then kicked and tripped.

Authorities learned that a week before Borel died, Santos beat the child by kicking him in the legs and head.

Santos has been dating Modeiros, who is divorced, since 2020.

Modeiros penned a letter on April 26 to the case's lead police investigator, Henrique Damasceno, claiming Santos had threatened if she told authorities what really happened to her son, according to newspaper O'Dia.

'I need to give the true version of what happened! This account is just an outburst from a mother who cries out for the truth,' she wrote. 'There is much to be said and there is much to be clarified! No lies, no training, no untruth. I was being manipulated without to understand; every time I tried to look for a way to get rid of myself and try to tell the truth, I was prevented'

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Four-year-old Henry Borel's death caused outrage in Brazil 

Santos reportedly beat the son of his former girlfriend, Deborá Saraiva, the newspaper reported. 

The incident allegedly took place six years ago when the boy was only two-years-old.

'When I heard about Henry's death, he told me another episode of aggression. He said that one night we were all asleep, Jairinho put paper and cloth in his mouth and climbed hard on his belly,' Saraiva said. 'Before we went to sleep, my daughter, who was six, saw a white powder in the water we drink. I believe he doped us.' 

Saraiva also said that when she discovered a cellphone conversation Santos was having with his ex-wife, he allegedly threatened to kill her and disappear her body.

A request to impeach Santos from the Rio de Janeiro parliament was made by the Ethics Council last week. 

Unicef data shows that at least 32 children are killed each day in Brazil.