Bio

Damião Soares dos Santos was born on 21 May 1967 in Porteirinha, in the northern region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. He lived in Janaúba, also in Minas Gerais, where his family lived. He was the youngest of eleven siblings.

He worked as a night watchman at the Centro Municipal de Educação Infantil Gente Inocente in Janaúba. Neighbors described him as a discreet person who sold homemade popsicles to children.

Murder Story

On the morning of Thursday, 5 October 2017, Damião Soares dos Santos entered a classroom at the Centro Municipal de Educação Infantil Gente Inocente in Janaúba, Minas Gerais. Dozens of children between the ages of 3 and 7 were taking part in normal school activities. Santos locked the door and doused fuel on several children, employees and himself. The resulting fire killed fourteen people, including Santos, ten children and three adults, and wounded thirty-seven.

Prior to the fire, Santos had been dismissed from work after taking annual leave the month before for a health condition. He went to the daycare to hand in his medical certificate before the fire. Shortly after setting the fire, he also set himself on fire. A fire took over the premises, killing four children at the location and leaving 37 injured. After being taken to the hospital, at least four more children, a teacher and the arsonist died.

At least one teacher attempted to stop him and rescued some of the children before she was overcome by injuries. A child, Matheus Felipe Rocha, 5, died on October 9. Geni Oliveira Lopes Martins, 63, died on November 6. Jéssica Morgana Silva Santos, a teacher, died on December 4. After the death of Gabriel Carvalho Oliveira, 5, on January 11, 2018, the death toll rose to fourteen. Some of the wounded suffered from smoke inhalation. Some victims were transferred to Santa Casa de Montes Claros. The most severely burned victims were flown to the João XXIII hospital in Belo Horizonte for specialized burn care.

The deceased were Damião Soares dos Santos, 50; Ana Clara Ferreira Silva, 4; Luiz Davi Carlos Rodrigues, 4; Juan Pablo Cruz dos Santos, 4; Juan Miguel Soares Silva, 4; Renan Nicolas Santos, 4; Yasmin Medeiros Salvino, 4; Cecília Davine G. Dias, 4; Talita Vitória Bispo, 4; Matheus Felipe Rocha, 5; Gabriel Carvalho Oliveira, 5; Jéssica Morgana Silva Santos, 23; Heley de Abreu Silva Batista, 43; and Geni Oliveira Lopes Martins, 63.

Damião Soares dos Santos was born 21 May 1967 in Porteirinha, in northern Minas Gerais, and resided in Janaúba. He chose his father's three-year death anniversary for the daycare fire. Police found gas in his home. Two days before the fire, he told his family that he was going to die and that that would be his "gift" to them. He was the youngest of eleven siblings. Neighbors described him as a discreet individual who sold home-made popsicles to children.

The mayor of Janaúba called the tragedy "catastrophic" and asked for help from the state government. The state provided helicopters and hospitals. Neighboring municipalities provided ambulances and medicine for burn victims. The mayor declared seven days of mourning. The governor decreed three days of official mourning and ordered state security and health forces to help care for victims and investigate the case. An emergency command post was set up in the city.

President Michel Temer expressed solidarity with the families. On 8 October, Temer granted teacher Heley de Abreu Silva Batista the National Order of Merit. The federal government released 8.7 million reais for reconstruction of the burned daycare and for the construction of two other educational institutions, one to be named after Heley Batista. A memorial was planned in honor of the victims.