Vigil to take place in Cork this Sunday in memory of Bruna Fonseca

A vigil is scheduled to take place in memory of Bruna Fonseca this Sunday (January 8th) in Cork, organised by the local Brazilian community in Cork.

The meeting place will be at The Lough at 10am, with attendees encouraged to wear white and bring candles in remembrance of the 28-year-old.

A fundraising effort has been launched to repatriate the body back to Bruna's family in Brazil. Donations have been flooding in, with the GoFundMe page raising over €48,000 in just five hours.

The Brazilian community of Cork are in total shock following Fonseca's killing by her former partner, 29-year-old Miller Pacheco. He is originally from Formiga in Brazil, but who was living at Room 3, 5 Liberty Street. Bruna Fonseca had made friends around the city in her short time living in Ireland, with 2022 marking her first New Year's in the country.

She was a qualified librarian and graduated from the Centro Universitario de Formiga in 2018. Fonseca moved to Cork in September of last year (2022) and was working as a contract cleaner at the Mercy University Hospital.

Bruna was attacked by her Pacheco shortly after she returned to a Leeside apartment following a night out with friends. She had been celebrating New Year's eve at a party in the Oyster Tavern off Patrick's Street.

Yesterday, Miller Pacheco appeared before a special sitting of Cork District Court where he was charged in connection with the death of his former partner. The charge read that on January 1st, 2023 at 5 Liberty Street, he did murder one Bruna Fonseca contrary to common law.

Evidence of arrest charge and caution was given by Det Garda Padraig Harrington. Pacheco made no reply when the charge was put to him under caution.

Earlier this week, floral tributes were left at the door of the apartment where on Liberty Street.

The killing follows the horrific murder of Lurgan native Natalie McNally in recent weeks, who was 15 weeks pregnant. Her killer remains at large.

The charity Crimestoppers has offered a £20,000 reward for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her murder.

The PSNI also released CCTV footage of a man carrying a rucksack arriving at Silverwood Green, in Lurgan, on Sunday 18 December as part of their murder inquiry.

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