Court sentences nursing technician to 51 years in prison for attempting to kill babies in RS

Nursing technician Vanessa Pedroso Cordeiro, 40 years old, was sentenced to 51 years and 8 months in prison by the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul for having taken the risk of killing 9 newborns at the Ulbra Hospital in Canoas, a city located 15 kilometers from Porto Alegre, in 2009.

The sentencing decision was released this Friday (12) after judge Diogo de Souza Mazzucatto Esteves found that the woman took the risk of killing the babies by administering controlled medications, such as morphine, to them without medical authorization and causing the newborns to have respiratory problems, convulsions and to be admitted to the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Jurors found the defendant guilty of nine of 11 attempted aggravated murders, as in one case Vanessa was acquitted and in another case she was disqualified for bodily harm.

Lawyer Flávio de Lia Pires, who represented the defendant, claimed that the nursing technician has a personality disorder and therefore “could not control her impulses” at the time of the crime. Flávio also highlighted that Vanessa needs medical treatment.

Flávio also defended the acquittal of at least six victims, as, for him, there are no elements that indicate substances in the organism of all children with symptoms.

“At the time she carried out the conduct, she was not in a position to make decisions for herself. She was unable to control her impulses. She acted outside of reality,” said the woman’s defense.

During questioning, Vanessa stated that she knew what she was doing to the babies, but that she could not stop herself from committing the acts. She also mentioned that at the time, she committed the crime because she was unaware that she had a mental disorder and was not undergoing psychiatric treatment for it.

At the time of the crime, the woman was arrested in flagrante delicto after the police found a syringe and medication in the nursing technician’s cabinet. Vanessa remained in preventive detention for almost a year.