The young woman accused of having stabbed another woman who ended up dying in April 2023, in Albufeira, claimed in court that she did not remember doing it, because she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
In the first session of the trial, which took place yesterday at the Portimão Court, Mariana Carrilho, aged 22, told the panel of judges that she “admitted to the crime” because her boyfriend at the time told her that she had caused the death of Núria Gomes, who was 19 years old at the time.
Mariana Carrilho is accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) of a crime of qualified homicide. Her boyfriend at the time, José Miguel Oliveira - aged 21, is accused for the crimes of insulting qualified physical integrity and personal favouritism.
According to the indictment, the young couple participated in the clashes that took place outside a nightclub in Albufeira, on April 16, 2023, which led to the young woman's death.
The defendant explained to the court that disagreements with the victim arose inside the nightclub, and upon leaving, the couple got into a physical confrontation with the victim.
Mariana Carrilho said that the knife had been given to her by her then boyfriend “who was always armed”, so that it would not be detected upon entering the club.
The defendant explained that she took the knife inside the establishment under her armpit and then put it in her handbag, putting it back under her armpit to leave, “to defend herself against the threats that were made to her inside the club and to scare the victim”.
“Outside, I was slapped by Núria and I picked up the knife to defend myself, but without any intention of killing and only later did my boyfriend, who got between the two, tell me that I had stabbed her”, said Carrilho.
Mariana Carrilho claimed that she does not “remember very well” what happened, because she had consumed cocaine and several whiskeys.
However, she added, she remembers seeing her boyfriend with blood on his shoulder, and he said that it was her who stabbed “my boyfriend José and Núria, who I didn’t know”.
The defendants explained to the court that they then left the place on foot, with José Miguel “trying to get rid of the knife". Both were detained shortly afterwards by the GNR.
José Miguel said that in the midst of the confusion he was attacked, but that he does not remember “the sequence of events”. The defendant claimed to have lost consciousness, but when he recovered he saw that he was “injured in the shoulder and the knife was on the floor, which he then picked up”.
He also said that “at the moment Núria fell, I had the knife my his hand and everyone at the scene said that I was the one who stabbed her”.
