Anna Carolina Trotta Peixoto Jatobá grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, where she eventually pursued studies in law. During her time at law school, she met Alexandre Alves Nardoni, who would later become her husband and the father of her two sons. Their relationship began while Alexandre was still involved with his former girlfriend, Ana Carolina Cunha de Oliveira, who was pregnant with Isabella, the child who would later become the victim in this case.

Anna Carolina’s relationship with Alexandre started clandestinely, overlapping with the final months of Oliveira’s pregnancy. After the birth of Isabella, Alexandre formally ended his relationship with Oliveira and began a life with Anna Carolina. They married and had two sons together, Pietro and Cauã. Despite establishing a household with Alexandre, their relationship was described by some as tense, with reports suggesting that Anna Carolina resented and felt threatened by Alexandre’s past with Oliveira.

Over time, Anna Carolina took on the responsibility of communicating with Oliveira about Isabella’s visits. According to Oliveira and other witnesses, Anna Carolina displayed jealousy and possessiveness. Oliveira later testified that Isabella sometimes came home from her father’s house crying and reluctant to stay there. Relatives and neighbors recounted that the Nardoni family occasionally avoided leaving Isabella alone with Anna Carolina, fearing the tension between her and the child. One neighbor told police that Isabella’s paternal grandmother had once expressed concern that Anna Carolina might one day harm the little girl.

Though outwardly Anna Carolina presented herself as a dedicated wife and mother, people close to the family noticed an undercurrent of resentment, particularly regarding Isabella’s presence in the household.

On the night of March 29, 2008, five-year-old Isabella de Oliveira Nardoni died after falling from the sixth floor of her father’s apartment building in São Paulo. Investigators quickly determined that her death was not an accident but the culmination of a brutal assault carried out by her father, Alexandre Nardoni, and her stepmother, Anna Carolina Jatobá.

According to the official account, that evening, Alexandre and Anna Carolina returned home with Isabella and their two young sons. Alexandre claimed he carried Isabella upstairs first and laid her down to sleep, leaving Anna Carolina in the car with the boys. He said that when he returned to the apartment after helping Anna Carolina bring up the children, he found the guest room light on and the window’s safety net torn open. He insisted he had no idea what had happened to Isabella until he looked out and saw her lying in the courtyard below.

However, evidence uncovered during the investigation painted a different picture. Forensic teams discovered Isabella’s blood in the apartment and in the family’s car. Blood traces were found on a towel and a diaper, and fragments of the window’s nylon safety screen were recovered from a pair of scissors in the apartment. Police also identified Isabella’s vomit on Alexandre’s shirt and footprints from Alexandre’s flip-flops on the bed beneath the window. These findings strongly suggested that Isabella had been injured inside the apartment before being thrown out the window.

The autopsy revealed injuries that were inconsistent with a fall alone. In addition to broken wrists, Isabella had signs of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma, indicating she had been choked and beaten before she was dropped from the window. Neighbors reported hearing arguments in the apartment shortly before Isabella was found.

In the immediate aftermath, Anna Carolina phoned her and Alexandre’s parents in a state of apparent hysteria, shouting that Isabella had fallen. When Isabella’s mother, Ana Carolina Oliveira, arrived, she found her daughter gravely wounded. Overcome with fear that she might worsen Isabella’s condition, she refrained from moving her. She kissed her daughter and whispered that she loved her.

On April 18, 2008, Anna Carolina and Alexandre were formally indicted for intentional homicide. The case captivated the Brazilian public, generating massive media coverage and public outrage. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Anna Carolina’s jealousy and resentment toward Isabella culminated in the assault that killed her. Despite maintaining their innocence, both were convicted on March 27, 2010. Anna Carolina was sentenced to 26 years and 8 months in prison. Until now, she remains incarcerated.