Renata Rebeca Negrão Saldanha dos Santos, mother of two children, died very early Tuesday morning when an aluminum window frame fell behind her on the seventh floor of a hotel in northeast Brazil, causing her to fall. Her boyfriend watched from the hallway, police said.
According to the police statement, Renata Rebeca, 26, fell from a window in a hallway at the Rio Poty Hotel around 1:30 in the morning. The hotel is in the Ponta d’Areia neighborhood of the state capital, São Luís, in Maranhão. She was dropped onto the canopy covering the hotel entrance. Despite getting some treatment on the spot, the woman could not make it due to injuries sustained.
Video footage from the security camera, recorded by TV Mirante, shows the couple walking down the hallway looking for their hotel keys. Then, the woman sat on the edge of the hallway window and leaned on its aluminum frame. It became loose and fell.
The video also shows the boyfriend standing still for several seconds while a hotel employee arrives and notices someone has fallen because of damage to the window.
As stated by the police, the woman and her boyfriend seem to be under the influence. The boyfriend, who was not named, was questioned at the police station and then released. Police added that they do not view him as a suspect in the case.
George Marques, the police chief handling the investigation on behalf of the Civil Police homicide unit in the state, said that, according to the video, this case happened accidentally and without any signs of aggression.
“There was no push. He wasn’t even close to her,” Marques added.
George Marques said the investigation is still ongoing, meaning hotel employees will be interviewed, and the man could also be interrogated again.
The Forensic Experts Department of Maranhão’s Public Security Department studied the hotel case, particularly the window structure, to determine why the aluminum frame loosened. At the moment, no conclusions have been reached.
Rio Poty Hotel published a statement expressing its great sadness about this tragic accident and solidarity with the woman’s family and friends. The hotel assured the Public Security Department of its full cooperation during the investigation, saying it is available for it “from the first moment.” The hotel also refused to comment on what happened, out of respect for the family and police. The hotel management did not agree to be interviewed by TV Mirante.
The woman and her boyfriend from Pará arrived in São Luís on October 28 to play poker and planned to return home on Tuesday. However, she died that day.
Two children are now orphaned, as she is survived by two little kids, one of whom is 4 years old. Early Tuesday, her body was released by the Legal Medicine Institute and sent to her native city, Ananindeua, the suburb of Belém, where she lived, so that the relatives and friends could pay her last respects.
According to the words of the woman’s mother, Betty Negrão, reported by TV Liberal, a Pará broadcaster, she finds it difficult to accept this tragic loss.
“My daughter went out to have fun, and I’m receiving her inside a coffin,” said Betty Negrão.
The woman said she felt uneasy even before the accident. “I had that anguish that I think a mother’s heart feels,” she added.
Many of their mutual friends paid tribute to the woman on social networks, saying their hearts are mourning today.
