Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

Five gang members have been accused of the execution-style killing of a 21-year-old woman after she made an innocent gesture on social media that cops believe was mistaken for a rival gang sign.

Tragic Ellen Nascimento da Silva’s bullet-ridden, hand-bound corpse was found by a tractor driver on a country road in Brasnorte in the west-central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso on 22nd April, three days after she went missing.

The Public Prosecution Service of Mato Grosso said the crime was carried out in revenge for a video Ellen had posted to TikTok on the day before her disappearance in which she made what was seen as a gang sign with her hands.

The police said earlier on in the investigation that they believed the hand gesture Ellen made was unintentional, but was nonetheless similar to the sign used by a gang that rivalled the gang her alleged killers belonged to.

Investigators speculated at the time that her then boyfriend belonged to the latter gang but said there was no evidence Ellen was involved in crime herself.

And now the Public Prosecution Service of Mato Grosso has officially named five suspects it believes was behind Ellen’s murder.

It also revealed there is a sixth suspect who has not yet been identified and a seventh who is a teenage girl and who will be dealt with by a different authority.

It named the five accused as Erick Vinicius Colen Felix, Ryan Aparecido Correa da Silva, Ueslen Goncalves Barros, Luiz Rafael de Oliveira and Mateus Lino Ramos.

Erick is already in prison, while two – Ryan, 21, and Ueslen, 26 – are considered fugitives from justice. Preventive detention orders have already been issued for Erick, Ryan and Ueslen. No information was given on the other two.

In the Public Prosecution Service’s report, which was published on 12th May, the five suspects are accused of aggravated murder, as well as corruption of minors for involving the teenager.

The Public Prosecution Service said that on 19th April, Mateus lured Ellen to his studio, where Luiz, Erick and the teenager were waiting.

There, Ellen was blindfolded and tied up before Ueslen arrived in a vehicle and the group took her to the spot where she was killed.

Ryan is named as the suspect who fired the first two shots and Luiz the last two. Another of the suspects – not named by investigators – is believed to have ordered the killing.

Ellen had dreamed of becoming a makeup model and had also expressed interest in a future career as a beautician.