A Rio de Janeiro congresswoman who is charged with arranging her husband's 2019 murder and enlisting their children to carry out the hit has been impeached from Brazil's lower house.
Flordelis dos Santos' removal was approved by 437 votes to 7 during a special session held in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday. Twelve lawmakers abstained from removing dos Santos from office.
Anderson do Carmo, 42, was assassinated on June 16, 2019, when he was shot more than 30 times as the couple walked into their home in the Rio de Janeiro city of Niterói. Nine of the shots struck do Carmo in the pelvic area.
The 60-year-old dos Santos was not injured in the shooting.
The couple raised 50 children, including four of their own. Five adopted children and two biological children are under arrest along with one granddaughter.
[She tried] to obstruct the investigations with theses of robbery, confusing the police, directing the police in different paths from those in which, in fact, they would find the truth of the facts,' São Paulo congressman Alexandre Leite said on the house floor.
Dos Santos' legal team filed a habeas corpus with the 2nd Criminal Court of the Court of Rio de Janeiro to prevent her arrest.
Congresswoman Flordelis dos Santos speaks during Wednesday's emergency session at the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies after she was impeached. The 60-year-old was charged in August 2020 for her role in the June 2019 murder of her pastor husband Anderson do Carmo
Flordelis de Souza reportedly poisoned Anderson do Carmo on multiple occasions before she plotted his June 16, 2019 execution. Do Carmo was shot 30 times by their biological son, Flavio dos Santos, in front of their home in Niterói, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro
Flordelis de Souza and Anderson do Carmo pose on October 2019 with some of their 50 children at their home in Niterói, a city in Rio de Janeiro
She was formally charged with her husband's killing on August 24, 2020, the same day authorities announced the arrests of biological children Adriano dos Santos and Simone dos Santos, and adopted children André de Oliveira, Carlos Silva, Marzy Teixeira and Simone dos Santos. Their granddaughter, Rayane dos
