Ricardo Najjar sentenced to 24 years for killing daughter in São Paulo

Ricardo Krause Esteves Najjar has been sentenced to 24 years, 10 months, and 20 days in prison for the 2015 murder of his 4-year-old daughter, Sophia Kissajikian Cancio Najjar, in São Paulo.

The conviction follows a lengthy and complex legal battle involving three separate jury trials. A 2018 conviction was annulled due to jury contradictions, and a subsequent 2023 trial resulted in a classification of involuntary manslaughter, which the Public Ministry of São Paulo successfully appealed. The prosecution argued that technical evidence, specifically necropsy reports, proved the death was caused by intentional human action rather than a domestic accident, as the defense had claimed.

Investigators found the child asphyxiated with a plastic bag over her head. The court recognized aggravating factors, including the use of cruel means and the victim being under 14 years of age. Najjar was also convicted of procedural fraud for attempting to mislead investigators regarding the scene of the crime.