A criminal lawyer arrested for shooting his 21-year-old girlfriend in the head has told cops he acted in self-defence.

The incident took place in the suspect’s luxury seafront apartment in the neighbourhood of Rio Vermelho in the city of Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia in the early hours of Sunday, 17th October.

Jose Luiz de Britto Meira Junior, age not stated, was arrested at his sister’s house in the neighbourhood of Pituba hours after reportedly dropping off the body of Kezia Stefany da Silva Ribeiro, 21, at the State General Hospital and fleeing.

The suspect claimed he acted in self-defence. His lawyer, Domingos Arjones, told local news outlet Correio: “He said they were having a lovers’ quarrel when she grabbed the gun. He tried to take it out of her hand and, during the confusion, the gun went off.”

The suspect’s lawyer told Correio that his client was also injured in the incident, although not by the firearm, which he said the suspect owned legally.

Some neighbours reported hearing screams and gunshots coming from the apartment at the time of the incident. They also told the police they saw a man dragging an unconscious woman down the corridors during the night, leaving behind a trail of blood.

The suspect and his beautiful young girlfriend had been in a two-year-long relationship and the victim had been enjoying a day drinking by the condo’s swimming pool before the night of the alleged crime.

The victim starred in the music video for the January 2020 song ‘Na Cocheira’ by Dong Boy, which has garnered over 1.7 million views on YouTube to date.

It is unclear if the suspect has been remanded in custody.