The court scheduled the popular jury trial for Gustavo dos Santos Soares, driver of a Land Rover accused of running over and killing young Fernando Zambori, aged 20, in front of a nightclub in the South Zone of São Paulo, on August 13, 2022 for November 11th.
The judgment takes place after a series of appeals presented throughout the process. In 2023, the first hearing was postponed after the Barra Funda Criminal Forum underwent maintenance right on the scheduled date, needing to be postponed.
In June 2024, the hearing had to be rescheduled again after a prosecution witness failed to appear.
"After so many years of waiting, this trial represents a moment of enormous importance for our family," said the victim's father Maurício Zambori this Wednesday (4), to g1.
Fernando died after being run over leaving a parking lot in front of a nightclub in Itaim Bibi. The report from the Legal Medical Institute indicated severe head trauma as the cause of death.
According to a police report, a friend of the victim told the police that he was with Fernando, when the driver of a Land Rover Velar, who had no license plates and was behind their vehicle, began to offend them.
The friend reported that he removed the car and placed it on the other side of the street. Afterwards, Fernando got out to talk to the driver, when he was run over. A security camera recorded the moment of the collision (see above).
The driver fled the scene. He was later identified as Gustavo dos Santos Soares after the person responsible for the nightclub provided security camera images.
Gustavo's temporary arrest was ordered, but on September 8, 2022, the Court considered it unnecessary.
According to judge Roberto Zanichelli Cintra's decision, Gustavo hired a lawyer and promised to collaborate with the investigation, such as presenting the car involved at the police station.
As a result, the judge replaced the arrest warrant with precautionary measures: not leaving the city of São Paulo for more than 8 days or changing address without notifying the Court, not approaching witnesses and keeping contact up to date.
There was then a request for preventive detention for Gustavo, but it was rejected by the Court on October 4, 2022 on the grounds that he was respecting the precautionary measures.
At the time, a young woman who was in the car with the driver gave details of the moment of the collision to the police. According to the young woman's testimony, the driver had drunk whiskey before she accepted a ride home.
When the two were in the parking lot, Gustavo asked boys who were selling candy to tell another driver to move the vehicle out of the way.
According to her report, Gustavo said to a person outside the car: "I'm asking in humility." Then, the boy, who would be Fernando Palominio Zambori, questioned whether Gustavo's vehicle would not pass through space.
Angry, the driver allegedly accelerated and hit the victim. The witness did not detail whether he intended to run over or scare the pedestrian.
Afterwards, the driver asked the candy sellers and they said that "he had only broken his leg".
According to the young woman, frightened by the situation, she said: "Are you crazy?" Gustavo reportedly replied: "Don't worry, nothing happened. He just broke the boy's leg."
The family's daily mobilization began on August 15th and continued until September 3rd, 2023, when the first hearing was supposed to be held. However, at the time, maintenance at the Barra Funda Forum caused it to be postponed. Family and friends went for 15 days to addresses such as Ponte da Freguesia do Ó, Avenida do Anastácio, Avenida Paulista, Ponte do Piqueri, Avenida Francisco Mattarazo and Cidade Universitária to ask for justice.
