A man in Brazil has been sentenced to 23 years and 10 months in prison for the attempted femicide of his ex-wife that left her quadriplegic.

A jury found Emerson Henrique de Souza guilty of beating, asphyxiating and abandoning mum-of-four Cidneia ‘Neia’ Aparecida Mariano da Costa, 34, on a rural road in the Brazilian municipality of Londrina on 8th April 2019.

The sentence was handed down on 4th February this year.

Following the brutal attack, Neia was left quadriplegic and unable to speak. A lack of oxygen to her brain caused her to suffer hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, which resulted in her loss of body movement.

The investigation found that Neia suffered a haematoma of the cervical spine from the attack and that her current condition was the direct result of suffocation.

During the trial, the defendant’s lawyer, Nayara Andrade Vieira, claimed her client had no intention of killing the victim.

She said an argument between the pair turned into a fight, and that Emerson grabbed Neia by the neck to stop her from hitting him.

The prosecutor, Ricardo Alves Domingues, rubbished these claims, stating: “It has to be a considerable force to obstruct breathing. This, to me, is consummated homicide.

“Squeezing the neck until she loses consciousness, depriving her of oxygen until you destroy the person and abandon her to her own fate.

“If you say that’s not trying to kill, I don’t know what is. If he had the slightest bit of honour, he would say he’s sorry.”

The relationship between the pair was said to be violent, and Neia had been trying to end it on good terms shortly before she was attacked by Emerson.

Following the brutal attack, her almost lifeless body was found in a thicket by a passerby who called the emergency services.

Neia worked as a nursing assistant and her family and friends remember her as a happy and healthy woman.

She is now bed-bound and can only communicate using her eyes and facial expressions.

The crime has taken its toll on the family, with Neia’s four children, who are now aged between five and 18 and who are not Emerson’s, split between different relatives’ homes.

Neia’s sister, sociologist Silvana Marinho, 46, told local media: “Cidneia is totally dependent on others and we have no prospects of rehabilitation.”

The family is said to be satisfied with the sentence.

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