Lightweight fighter Joel Santos is in custody alongside his child’s stepmother in Dourados, Brazil.
Brazilian news outlet G1 reports that Joel Rodrigo Avalo Santos has been arrested for the suspected beating death of his 1-year-old son. Santos, a lightweight MMA fighter from Dourados, Brazil, went by the nickname ‘Joel Tigre’ and amassed a 12-4 record fighting on regional shows in his home country.
According to local police, Santos was taken into custody along with his wife, Jessica Leite Ribeiro (the child’s stepmother), since they had been living in the same house as the boy for the last 9 days prior to his death. Police report that the fatal injuries seem to have been caused by a blow to the back, resulting in broken ribs and a lacerated liver. The injuries were first noticed hours before the child’s death, when medics came to the home in response to a call that the child was choking. The victim apparently also showed signs of previous harm.
The report from G1 details that the infant died on the morning of August 16. Santos and Ribeiro were arrested on the same afternoon. The child’s biological mother told reporters that she has a restraining order against the two, on account of other previous cases of aggression.
Police chief Marcelo Damaceno said both suspects spent the night at the station, and that they denied any accusations of wrongdoing, saying that the baby died of natural causes.
“The father and the stepmother spent the night here in the police station and will remain arrested for the crime of mistreatment, which is qualified by the baby’s death. In their testimony, they denied it and claimed the child died of natural causes. However, an autopsy showed clear signs of of aggression.”
In a separate report, Santos’ teammate, Luis Bezerra, said that he was shocked by the news.
“I don’t want to believe he did it. But if he’s guilty, I hope he pays for what he did, because I have a son, too.”
In a hearing on Friday, August 17th, a judge ordered both Santos and Ribeiro be detained indefinitely, pending investigation.