The police officer who is accused of killing Leandro Lo, Lieutenant Henrique Otávio Oliveira Velozo, has now finally been dismissed from the force. Although this will obviously be welcome news for Lo’s family and those fighting for justice on his behalf, it has still taken an incredibly long time to get here. The decision has only been made a little over 3 years after Lo was shot and killed in Sao Paulo, and the officer accused in the case was apprehended almost immediately afterward. It’s unclear exactly what has taken so long yo come to this decision, especially when judges at the São Paulo Military Court of Justice determined that Velozo’s dismissal was warranted three months ago.
Governor Tarcísio de Freitas signed the dismissal decree on Friday 19th and it was published in the Official Gazette this Monday 22nd, referencing his involvement in activities deemed ‘incompatible with the military police function.’ This was a big moment though, as there was an outcry when a judge initially ruled that Velozo could still receive his salary from the police. It’s been a very long road to get to this point but there is still much further to go for Lo’s family and their supporters. Despite the length of time that has passed since Lo was murdered, there is still no verdict in the case.
It has been struck by delays since the very beginning, with even the initial trial hearing being postponed by a month back in 2023. Since then it has been a consistent cycle of some kind of positive news on the case before it was hit with another delay, so overall progress has been very slow. Even just last month; the first witness took to the stand and it seemed as though we were finally going to see a conclusion, but the judge declared a mistrial and arranged for a new jury trial. Now the trial is set for November 12th to 14th, 2025 and assuming there are no further delays; Lo’s family should finally get some closure.
