This week, in an unprecedented way, the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro ordered the state government to pay compensation to the families of cousins ​​Emily Vitória, aged 4, and Rebecca dos Santos, aged 7. They were killed during a police action, on December 4, 2020, in the Sapinho community, in Duque de Caxias, Baixada Fluminense. The action is still subject to appeal. Related news: Act in Rio calls for the return of memorials for children killed by stray bullets. The compensation action, deemed valid, was proposed by the Public Defender's Office. The Court condemned the state of Rio de Janeiro not only to pay compensation to the girls' families for the deaths that occurred in the context of a police operation, but went further, also condemning the state to pay specific compensation due to serious failures in the criminal investigation. According to public defender André Castro, from the Center for the Defense of Human Rights, responsible for the case, “the sentence from the judiciary carefully examines the case and will verify that the investigation did not meet the necessary criteria provided by law for an adequate investigation and, therefore, failed the families in seeking the truth, so much so that to this day it is not known who those responsible are”, he said. "This sentence brings this very important aspect, in a way unprecedented, which protects not only the right to reparation, but also the right to truth that families have. Right to truth, which is the right to know who was responsible or responsible for the deaths of the girls Emily and Rebecca", stated Castro. In the decision, judge Cristiana Aparecida de Souza Donato determines the payment of compensation for moral damages and pensions to the victims' families. The judge cited a summary of the Federal Supreme Court in which it says that the “State is responsible in the civil sphere for death or injury resulting from public security operations, in terms of administrative risk”. Also according to the summary, the inconclusive expert opinion on the origin of the fatal shooting during police and military operations “is not sufficient, in itself, to rule out the State's civil liability, as it constitutes an evidentiary element”. Case The children were playing outside the house when they were hit by a single rifle shot. The shooting occurred in the midst of an action by the Military Police, as the police vehicle passed with two soldiers, armed with rifles, in front of the street where the girls were. According to the lawsuit, witnesses reported seeing a flash of light coming from inside the vehicle. Police investigations ended up concluding that the shot must have come from across the street, from alleged criminals who were never identified, which resulted in a criminal case against local drug leaders. The ballistics confrontation report indicates that the rifles carried by the police officers were compatible with the projectile that hit the two children, “although it could not be said with certainty that the shot was fired by one of the weapons used by the police officers”, says the text. According to the Public Defender's Office of Rio de Janeiro, “this case, however, ended up being archived due to lack of evidence and the conclusion is that to this day it is not known who is responsible for the girls' deaths”. Reconstruction For Projeto Mirante, a research project based at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), the decision is a “historic victory”. Project researchers worked on the reconstruction of the case, which involved measurements on the streets, conversations with residents and family members, and a lot of technique, including 3D reconstruction. On social media, researcher Liliana Sanjurjo commented on the project’s performance: “We observed many flaws, especially in the simulated reproduction report that was carried out at the time of the investigation and there were elements missing for the conclusion,” he said. By crossing information, images and GPS location, according to Sanjurjo, it was possible to prove “that there was indeed a police vehicle at the exact moment of the incident”.  Government note The Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro says, in a note, that it is still awaiting the Court's analysis of the motions for clarification made by the Public Defender's Office to decide whether or not it will file an appeal against the court ruling. According to the government, the investigation conducted by the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Police Station concluded that the shots that hit the victims did not come from the military police officers being investigated. "Based on the expert reports and other technical evidence gathered throughout the investigation, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested the archiving of the procedure in relation to the security agents. The investigations also identified the participation of two drug traffickers in the events, who were indicted by the Civil Police", he highlighted. The note also says that, during the investigation, several steps were taken, interviews with witnesses, on-site expertise, ballistic examinations, inspections of the victims' bodies, simulated reproduction of the facts and analysis of all available evidence. Gun violence According to the platform Futuro Exterminado, which gathers data on children and adolescents who were victims of firearms, between 2016 and 2026, 778 were shot, 347 of which, during police operations, in Rio de Janeiro and the metropolitan region. Of these, 342 died. In 2020, 62 were shot and, of these, 26 died, including Emily and Rebecca.