A 17-year-old from São Paulo, Brazil, has been arrested after admitting she fatally poisoned another 17-year-old female with an arsenic-laced cake, in what police are calling a crime of passion.
According to CNN Brasil, the teenage suspect told police she bought a small cake from a bakery, stuffed it with poison, then hired a motorcycle courier to deliver it.
Highlights
- 17-year-old admits to lacing a cake with arsenic to poison her friend out of jealousy
- Ana Luiza de Oliveira Neves ate what she thought was a cake from an admirer
- The suspect has admitted to the crime, saying she also poisoned a second person
- Netizens have strong reactions to the case
The recipient was 17-year-old Ana Luiza de Oliveira Neves, of Itapecerica da Serra, in Greater São Paulo, who received the package, which came with a note.
“The most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” the poisoned cake came with a note
Image credits: luizbacci / Instagram
Image credits: choquei / X
Family and friends of 17-year-old Ana say on Saturday, May 31st, she accepted a delivery that came with a cute handwritten note that read in part: “A treat for the most beautiful girl I've ever seen” and included a small red heart and stickers. The note also said the cake was a gift for “the sweetest girl with the best personality that I know.”
Image credits: choquei / X
CNN says that Ana exchanged audio messages with a friend during which she confirmed she did not know who sent the pastry.
In audio clips of their conversation after Ana ate the cake, but before she became sick, she told her friend, “If I d*e from poisoning, you’ll already know.”
She said she has no idea who sent it. “I don’t know if it was a friend of mine. I wanted to know if it was someone that I want to thank…?” she told her friend.
Her family says that about one hour after eating the cake, she became ill.
Doctors diagnosed her with food poisoning and sent her home with medicine
Image credits: CNN Brasil
As her symptoms persisted, her father took her to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with food poisoning and discharged.
A day later, with her symptoms not improving, her family took her back to the hospital, where she was admitted with no vital signs and pronounced deceased. On Tuesday, June 3rd, family and friends laid her to rest.
Image credits: CNN Brasil
According to CNN Brasil, the suspect, who is also 17 years old, started planning the sinister act on May 14th. Her motive, according to the statement she gave police, was jealousy.
The suspect explained to police how she bought the small cake at a bakery near her home. She said that she didn’t intend the outcome of her actions to be fatal, only illness.
This was not the first girl the suspect sent a poisoned cake to over jealousy
Image credits: meninatrufa / Instagram
Image credits: meninatrufa / Instagram
A few days prior to sending the cake to Ana, the suspect sent another cake laced with poison to another girl, whom she was also jealous of. That person fell ill but recovered from her symptoms. Media have reported that the suspect sent a poisoned cake to this victim because two of her previous boyfriends left her for the victim.
The suspect maintained to police that her intention was for Ana to “only experience bad symptoms, like vomiting." According to CNN, when she found out that Ana had perished, she was stunned.
In her statement, the suspect said she is experiencing mental health problems and feels sorry for the harm she has caused.
Netizens question Ana’s logic in eating a cake from someone she didn’t know
Image credits: luizbacci / Instagram
Some netizens offered a scolding on how taking candy and treats from strangers is not advisable.
“17 years old with the mental age of 3. How can you eat anything that an anonymous person sends you?” one person questioned.
Another person said, “I'm grateful to my mother for teaching me that I can't accept food from strangers.”
Image credits: luizbacci / Instagram
“I learned when I was little not to take things that were given to me, not to take candies, sweets, fruits,” said one person.
“Don’t fall for that guy who orders it and sends it to your address. You can’t trust anyone anymore!!! And if it's an anonymous note, then NEVER ACCEPT IT,” warned another
There have been additional cases of people poisoning cakes in Brazil
Image credits: Zeli Dos Anjos / Facebook
This isn’t the first time someone has poisoned a cake in order to harm someone or take their lives.
On Christmas Eve, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Deise Moura dos Anjos served a cake to her family that was also filled with arsenic.
In that case, which took some twists and turns, the woman who made the cake was also one of the victims.
Zeli dos Anjos, 60, was one of six people to consume the cake, and one of three to suffer serious side effects.
Image credits: Polícia Civil RS
Of the three people who perished after eating the cake, police say one had 350 times the permitted amount of arsenic in their system.
After an investigation, police determined that Deise Moura dos Anjos, Zeli’s daughter-in-law, had put arsenic in the flour that Zeli used to make the cake.
She was arrested and charged with triple homicide and triple attempted homicide and sentenced to jail time.
In February of this year, Deise Moura was found deceased in her jail cell. At the time, prison officials said, she had been alone in her cell.
Netizens offer a warning to other people who accept gifts from people they don’t know
