Vigil to be held in Limerick for woman murdered

David Raleigh

A vigil is to be held tonight in Limerick City to remember Brazilian woman, Jady Cristine Pereira Rosa, who was found murdered at an apartment, last Friday morning.

Twelve hours after Rosa’s remains were found, the body of her husband, named locally as Judismar Weslei Batista, and who was the chief suspect for his wife’s killing, were recovered near Blackrock Castle, Co Cork.

Gardaí were treating Rosa’s death as murder and Batista’s death as suicide. It’s understood their relationship had broken down recently.

Monday night’s vigil is being organised by socialist feminist group, Limerick ROSA, which said in a message posted on its Facebook page: “We stand with all victims of violence and especially of misogynistic violence”.

The group asked people “not to stay silent” and to join the vigil at 7pm at Bedford Row, Limerick City.

“Rosa Limerick are devastated to hear of the death of Jady Cristine Pereira Rosa in the city. We send our heartfelt condolences to her family, friends, colleagues and the Brazilian community in Limerick,” said Limerick ROSA.

“We also send our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Annmarie O' Reilly from Clonmel who was killed in Australia on Friday,” it added.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the National Women’s Council of Ireland said it was “struggling to find the words...that another woman has been killed this year.”

It added: “Jady Cristine Pereira Rosa was from Brazil and lived in Limerick. Our hearts are today with her, and with her loved ones, for whom her loss will be immeasurable. Every woman deserves to live free from violence and abuse.”

Rosa’s body was discovered at an apartment, at Cecil Street, Limerick City, around 7.30am, Friday.

It’s understood she suffered stab injuries, however gardaí said they were not officially releasing the results of a post mortem fort “operational reasons”.

A post mortem was also to be carried out on Batista’s body.

Gardaí did not name Batista; however, a Garda spokesman said: “A male in his 30s who was a person of interest and a line of enquiry in this investigation has been found deceased.”

“An Garda Síochána continue to investigate the murder of the woman to determine all of the circumstances of her death,” the garda spokesman said.

“A Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) has been appointed to lead the investigation. An incident room has been established at Henry Street Garda Station. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Henry Street Garda Station on (061) 212400.”

It’s understood that friends of Rosa had been waiting for her outside her apartment building entrance to go to work last Friday morning, before they raised the alarm. It’s understood Batista interacted with them and may have told them Rosa would be with them shortly.

It’s understood Batista then made his way to Cork by public transport. His body, which was not immediately identified, was recovered by gardaí and the coast guard at Blackrock, around 7pm, Friday evening.

A fund has been established through the GoFundMe website to raise funds for the repatriation of Rosa’s remains and her funeral costs in her native Sãu Paulo.

The fund had raised over 25,000 euros.

Rosa had been living in Limerick for a number of years and had been working for a local cleaning firm.