A COP who killed a jiu-jitsu champion during a night club fight has walked free, avoiding a potential two decades behind bars.
Police lieutenant Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo fatally shot jiu-jitsu fighter Leandro Lo, 33, at a Sao Paulo club in August, 2022.
Henrique Otavio Oliveira Velozo walked free on Friday, acquitted of killing jiu-jitsu champion Leandro LoCredit: newsX/NF
Velozo gunned down Leandro Lo after a night club fight three years agoCredit: Instagram/@leandrolojj Verified
The fighter was rushed to hospital but ultimately died from the fatal shot to his headCredit: newsX/NF
Investigators said the pair got into an altercation at Clube Sírio on August 14, alleging after the fighter knocked him out a week earlier.
Velozo – who faced a homicide for a trivial reason charge – walked free on Friday following a jury-heard trial – narrowly escaping a potential 20 years in prison.
The officer reportedly left the area, before returning with a gun and firing the fatal shot into Lo’s head.
Witnesses also alleged Velozo kicked Lo twice after he had fallen.
The jiu-jitsu champion was rushed to hospital; however, he later succumbed to his injuries.
Velozo turned himself in to police the following day and was later charged.
He remained in custody at the Romão Gomes military prison until Friday’s outcome.
Throughout the trial, Velozo’s legal team argued he had been defending himself against the athlete.
According to CNN Brasil, lawyer Cláudio Dalledone Junior said the evidence suggested self-defence.
“From the beginning, the defence demonstrated … that [he] acted in legitimate self-defence, after being attacked and knocked unconscious by Leandro Lo,” he said.
He added that there were contradictions in witness accounts, saying: “Nothing fit with the real dynamics of the facts”.
He said despite “Leandro Lo [being] a great champion … it [was] also necessary to recognize that … he was responsible for this tragedy.”
The jury – made up of five women and two men – heard evidence from nine witnesses over three days.
They ultimately accepted the self-defence argument, despite prosecutors seeking a homicide conviction and 20 years in prison.
On Friday, Renan Canto – another lawyer in Velozo’s team – said: “Today’s acquittal is recognition that the truth prevailed”.
Lo’s mother, Fatima Lo, spoke out after the decision, accusing Velozo and his defence team of lying.
Velozo has been in custody since he turned himself in to cops in 2022Credit: newsX/NF
On Friday, a jury acquitted him of the crimeCredit: newsX/NF
She said she would appeal the decision because she believed there had been no justice.
“I feel like I buried Leandro for the second time,” she said.
“We were so humiliated there, so crushed by the defence, by that lawyer and his team.
“I want to thank our lawyers very much, who have been with us from the beginning and will continue to be, because we will appeal,” she added.
