Murder of Isabella Nardoni

On the night of 29 March 2008, the five-year-old girl Isabella died from severe injuries after being thrown out of the sixth floor of the building where her father Alexandre Alves Nardoni, stepmother Anna Carolina Trotta Peixoto Jatobá, and newborn half-siblings lived in North São Paulo.

Investigations concluded that the girl had been physically abused by her father and stepmother and both were convicted for intentional homicide.

Isabella was born on 18 April 2002 in São Paulo, Brazil, to Alexandre Alves Nardoni and Ana Carolina Cunha de Oliveira.

[4] Oliveira became unexpectedly pregnant with Isabella when she was 17 and, by that time, Nardoni was about to begin his law classes at college.

While she was pregnant, they considered moving in together, but the relationship was already deteriorating; so, Oliveira chose to live with her daughter in her parents' house.

A neighbor also told police Isabella's paternal grandmother said that Jatobá was crazy and was capable of someday dropping the girl from the apartment.

According to Oliveira, Jatobá was screaming so much that she had believed Isabella had accidentally fallen into the building's pool and told her to perform CPR on the child.

Once Ana Carolina arrived at the site and realized how badly injured her daughter was, she refrained from touching Isabella, out of fear of worsening her condition.

[4][6] Alexandre Nardoni and Anna Carolina Jatobá's trial began on 22 March 2010, almost two years (to the day) after Isabella's death.

[13] She said Jatobá was extremely jealous of her, and that Alexandre had once threatened to kill her and her mother and then vanish with Isabella when Ana Carolina confronted him over late alimony payments.

Ana Carolina was later requested by the defense attorney to remain in the court house so she could meet with Nardoni and Jatobá.

[14] Alexandre also claimed he felt humiliated by this and that the police weren't actually interested in figuring out what had happened in the building the day Isabella died.

Nardoni shocked the audience and jury when, after being questioned by DA Francisco Cembranelli on why he didn't think of helping Isabella, he first said that he was making sure she was alive.

After Cembranelli asked for a third time why he didn't think of trying to do anything to help the girl, Nardoni finally answered that when he became aware of what was going on, a neighbor ordered him not to touch Isabella.

Another shocking moment occurred when Cembranelli asked why Nardoni hadn't spoken to Oliveira during Isabella's funeral and wake.