A 35-year-old Brazilian-born mother, identified as Cibelle Savella, shot and killed her 4-year-old daughter, Vivian, before attempting to take her own life at their home in Houston, according to The New York Post.
The incident occurred Tuesday, about eight hours after Savella lost custody of the child in a court ruling that awarded primary custody to her ex-husband, Aaron Savella. According to police Lieutenant Larry Crowson, Savella was expected to hand the girl over to her father that same night. Instead, she shot the child and then attempted suicide.
Savella was taken to a hospital for emergency treatment but died the following day.
The couple divorced in November 2024 after four years of marriage and had been involved in a contentious custody dispute. The court ruling issued hours before the shooting imposed several restrictions on Savella, including prohibiting her from speaking Portuguese to her daughter unless a supervisor who spoke the language was present. She was also barred from attending school and extracurricular events and was ordered to pay child support and half of the child’s medical expenses.
The exact reasons behind the restrictions remain unclear. Attorney Charlotte Rainwater said she had never anticipated such a tragic outcome during her 28 years of practice. The father’s family expressed devastation, saying Aaron had followed the court’s orders to protect his daughter and had been expecting to receive her that evening.
