Three people have appeared in court charged in connection with the child’s killing
Tavia Michella Ximenes Da Costa’s body was found in the Windmill Court area of Dungannon on Sunday.
She was due to turn two later this month and has connections to the East Timorese community in Dungannon.
Tavia’s mother, aunt and Tavia’s mother’s partner appeared in court charged in connection with her death.
Januaria Sarmento Ximenes (29), Suzana Da Costa Ximenes (24) and Suzi Augusta Jacinta Da Costa (21), all of Windmill Court, appeared via videolink before Strabane Magistrates Court today.
Januaria Ximenes has been charged with Tavia’s murder as well as cruelty to a child.
Suzi Augusta Da Costa is accused of manslaughter, causing the death of a child by unlawful act and cruelty to a child, while Suzana Da Costa Ximenes faces charges of causing the death of a child by unlawful act and cruelty to a child.
The alleged cruelty charges cover a period from August 1 to October 13 this year.
The three East Timorese nationals appeared from Musgrave Custody Suite, dressed in grey prison-issue tracksuits and flanked by police officers.
During the hearing, the three defendants spoke through a Tetun interpreter to confirm they understood the charges against them.
A PSNI officer said he could connect the accused to the charges.
Counsel for the defendants indicated that all three were making bail applications, which were resisted by the PSNI.
Outlining the facts of the case, prosecution said Tavia lived in a two-bedroom house in Dungannon along with her mum Suzi and aunt Suzana.
Januaria was not Tavia’s father and had moved into the house in August having begun a relationship with her mother in June.
The court heard that Tavia’s mother had phoned the child’s grandmother last Sunday morning to tell her something was wrong with her granddaughter.
When the grandmother attended the house, Tavia was dead with a blanket covering her face, with the court hearing she appeared to have been dead for some time.
Tavia’s grandmother phoned her brother to ask him to come to the house and said murder-accused Januaria had said: “Let’s resolve this as a family”.
She told police the 29-year-old had appeared “calm and emotionless”.
Police at the scene of the incident on Sunday
When her brother arrived at the house, he phoned 999. An ambulance attended at around 9.21am and phoned police, who began an investigation into the death and arrested the three defendants.
A post-mortem examination carried out on Tavia’s body revealed she was covered in bruises, including bruises to her head and face. The cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma.
There was also evidence the child had been shaken and had injuries deemed to be non-accidental, such as grip marks on her arm. A scald burn was also noted on Tavia’s ear.
The pathologist noted that not all injuries were caused at the same time, though none dated back further than October 9 this year.
Subsequent police interviews revealed Januaria had been out at a nightclub in Dungannon on Saturday evening and had been observed by police to have been angry and aggressive.
He was seen leaving the club at around 2am on Sunday morning.
Police spoke to a neighbour of the family who said they had heard two women screaming at around 2.30am and that the screaming had been “intense” and lasted around 10 minutes.
Prosecution said police believed none of the defendants had told the truth during interview.
They said the child’s mum had told police she had fallen and that her partner was a “great guy”, before changing her account to claim Januaria had been “violent and abusive” towards her and Tavia.
The court heard Suzi had told police the child’s breathing had been “terrible” on Saturday night and that she found her dead in the morning.
Tavia’s aunt Suzana said she had been at a party all day on Friday and returned home at around 10pm, but did not come out of her room for the next 21 hours.
She told police she had not seen or heard anything and was unable to explain the neighbour’s claims of hearing screaming in the early hours of the morning.
Januaria denied any wrongdoing towards Suzi or Tavia during police interviews and claimed the child had fallen and they had put boiling water on her injury.
Ximenes claimed he had been out at the club until between 4 and 6am, despite the police belief that he left the club at 2am and was home by 2.30am.
A police officer outlined objections to bail for Januaria, voicing concerns over his previous record for serious assaults and worries he may interfere with witnesses.
He described the defendant as a “violent liar” and that there was a risk of flight due to his links to East Timorese communities outside Northern Ireland.
The officer said tensions within the community had been high following an incident outside a Dungannon nightclub on Saturday night.
He also raised concerns these tensions would increase after the charges, while there were also worries over the safety of the defendants themselves and an appropriate bail address.
He added that there were four outstanding warrants against the defendant currently on police systems.
Defence counsel for Januaria said the only substantial evidence against his client had come from the co-accused and submitted that a suitable bail address could be found.
Bail applications were also made for the child’s mother and aunt.
Defence for the child’s mother – Suzi – said she was a “vulnerable adult”, had been a victim of domestic violence and coercion at the hands of Januaria and added her mum was willing to act as surety for bail.
Counsel for Suzana argued any community tensions were not related to his client and said any risk of flight could be managed given her ties to the area and her work ties.
District Judge Mullan refused all three defendants bail, citing Januaria’s relevant record, a risk of flight and concerns relating to interference with witnesses.
The judge said the facts of the case were “extremely disturbing”.
All three defendants were remanded in custody, to appear via video link before Dungannon Magistrates Court on November 13.
