A Brazilian influencer known as the ‘Human Barbie’ might be dug out of her grave as her family claim her tragic death was murder, rather than a heart attack sparked by cocaine
Barbara Jankavski Marquez’s bizarre journey to become a human Barbie doll continues to draw that world’s attention even after her tragic death.
While police seemed initially to assume the ‘Human Barbie‘ fell victim to drugs, her family point to signs on her body that suggest she was killed. They’re now demanding her body be dug up to enable an autopsy that can clear up her cause of death.
The lawyer who was with her on her last night claims they fell asleep watching TV and she just never woke up, although he admits hiring the social media star for sexual services.
Barbara was found dead on the night of November 2 at the home of Renato Campos Pinto De Vitto, 51, a lawyer who admitted hiring the 31-year-old influencer for sex. She arrived at his property at around 1am and stayed until later that evening.
Renato said they took cocaine during that time, and that she fell asleep next to him while watching TV. But she never woke up.
The lawyer, who is on leave at his own request for medical reasons, said he called an ambulance and performed CPR on the victim, following the operator’s instructions, but to no avail. The ambulance arrived on the scene and confirmed Bárbara’s death at 9.07pm.
The police later carried out necropsy and toxicology tests and wanted to close the case as a sudden death by cardiac arrest, citing excessive cocaine use. Her family believes she did not die of a heart attack, but was instead killed.
Prosecutors have now stepped in to demand further investigations. The victim’s body had injuries and marks on her neck consistent with mechanical asphyxiation, they said, but the police decided she was not the victim of a crime.
Following a court order, the investigation has now been passed over to the Department of Homicide and Protection of the People (DHPP), a specialised branch of the Civil Police. The case was initially being probed by 7th Police District in Lapa, west of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Prosecutors have requested that her body be exhumed and further analysis carried out, as reported by NeedToKnow. They argue that her neck injuries, and marks to her eyes and legs, should be treated as suspicious.
Prosecutors want to carry out tests on the victim’s injuries and DNA analysis of her fingernails to determine if there was a struggle before she passed away. The court is still considering the request.
Bárbara, who called herself Human Barbie, was known for her cosmetic transformations and fashion content on social media.
Before her death, the 31-year-old had 343,000 TikTok fans and 57,000 followers on Instagram.
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