A man charged with murdering little Tavia Michella Ximenes Da Costa expressed a desire to resolve this “within the family”, a court has heard.
Januaria Sarmento Ximenes (29) is charged with murder, while his partner and mother of the child, 21-year-old Suzi Augusta Jacinta Da Costa, is charged with manslaughter on October 13.
She and her sister, 24-year-old Suzana Da Costa Ximenes, are charged with causing the death of the child and knowing she had died by an unlawful act.
All three, who resided at Windmill Court, Dungannon are accused of wilfully ill-treating between August 1 to October 13.
A detective sergeant told Strabane Magistrates’ Court all charges could be connected.
A prosecuting lawyer explained twenty-three-month-old Tavia lived with her mother, aunt and her mother’s partner in Dungannon.
Ximenes wasn’t her father but began a relationship with Da Costa, moving in with her and her sister, in June.
On Sunday morning, Da Costa rang her mother saying there was something wrong with Tavia, who told her to go to hospital.
Da Costa, who was “normal and calm”, refused, instead asking her mother to come to the house.
She arrived with her brother and were met by Ximenes who, calm and emotionless, said: “Let’s resolve this as a family”.
Tavia’s grandmother told police she had been “isolated” from her daughter and granddaughter since Ximenes moved in.
She saw Tavia in bed with a blanket over her and believed she had been dead some time.
Her brother rang 999, while Ximenes told him: “I’m a good man. That’s why I saved your niece”.
An ambulance crew arrived, who notified police, and the defendants were arrested.
A postmortem found Tavia died from brain injury caused by blunt force trauma.
She was covered in bruises, including to her head and face; there were grip marks to her arms, evidence of being shaken and a scald burn on her ear, the court heard.
Police ascertained Ximenes was in a nightclub on Saturday evening and was “angry and aggressive” when leaving around 2am.
Approximately 30 minutes later a witness heard two women “screaming hysterically” in Tavia’s home.
“This was intense and lasted about 10 minutes,” said the prosecution.
During interview, Da Costa claimed her daughter had fallen, and insisted Ximenes “was a great guy”.
She then changed to saying he was violent to her and Tavia, with this increasing from October 9.
Despite this, she left the child alone with him on October 10, while she went out.
Da Costa “didn’t describe any fatal attack on Tavia. She said her breathing was terrible on Saturday night although did not seek help. In the morning, Tavia was dead.”
Ms Ximenes said she hadn’t seen Tavia since October 8 and went to an all-night party on Friday then slept throughout Saturday. She changed this to an all-day party on Friday from which she got home at 10pm that night, remaining in her room for 21 hours.
She accepted she didn’t like Ximenes and stayed out of his way, but insisted she didn’t see or hear anything.
Ximenes, meanwhile, claimed Tavia was injured, and her mother and aunt put boiling water on this injury, although he had suggested cold water.
He claimed he was out until 6am on the Sunday despite police believing he was home by 2.30am.
Lawyers for all three accused applied for bail, which was opposed.
The detective said Ximenes has a record of similar offending of a domestic nature, including entering the home of an ex-partner and threatening her with a knife in 2023.
In 2022 he attacked another ex-partner, and prior to that, assaulted a 13-year-old child before following her into the toilets of a McDonald’s restaurant and assaulted her again, pushing her against a cubicle and slapping her face.
“He expressed a desire to resolve this within the family and wanted to cover up the murder of this child,” said the detective.
“He is a violent liar and cannot be trusted on bail. There were tensions amongst the East Timorese community and news of these charges is likely to increase this. We have concerns about recent protests leading to serious public disorder.”
While the women have no previous records the detective voiced concerns they could interfere with the evidence of their mother and uncle, who are key witnesses.
Da Costa, he said, “didn’t report the death of her child and was prepared to cover it up. She doesn’t seem to have grasped the seriousness of the situation. She was emotionless during interview.”
The defence countered that Da Costa is a vulnerable victim of domestic abuse and coercive control at the hands of Ximenes, and she only left Tavia with him because he forced her to attend an appointment around a potential pregnancy, alone.
In terms of Ms Ximenes, the detective said: “She lied in interview and changed accounts of her whereabouts. She too didn’t report Tavia’s death and was prepared to cover it up. A reasonable person would not believe she was in a room over that time but heard and saw nothing.”
The defence insisted there is nothing to connect her to Tavia’s death and could be “clearly distinguished” from the co-accused.
District Judge Oonagh Mullan refused bail for all and ordered them to appear by video-link at Dungannon Magistrates’ Court on November 13.
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