Second arrest made after 20-year-old nanny murdered by influencer employer who forced her in to prostitution

Geovana Martins was killed on Monday August 19 and was then found the following day in a wooded area in the northeastern Brazilian city of Manaus.

The Amazonas Civil Police apprehended Antônio de Oliveira, aged 25, last Wednesday (September 25) in connection to the kidnapping and murder of Martins, who was nanny.

Authorities had previously arrested de Oliveira's girlfriend, Camila da Silva, just over a week after Martins was found on Wednesday August 28. She had hired Martins to babysit her daughter a year ago.

Police chief Marília Campello said during a press conference on Thursday (September 26) that Martins was at the home of a friend on the day she died when she ignored phone calls from da Silva to return to her home. She then allegedly went to Martins' location, where she beat her and then dragged her out of the house.

Campello said that da Silva later texted Martin's friend to ask where she was as part of an attempt to cover up her involvement with her murder. The police official added: “She forcibly takes Geovana from her friend's house and on the 19th, at night, Geovana is probably already dead, she sends a message to this friend asking about Geovana. It was a disappointment from start to finish, thinking that the police would not arrive because of the alibi she tried to form.”

De Oliveira allegedly assisted da Silva is kidnapping and burying Martins' body. Authorities are still searching for two more suspects in connection to the case. The police alleged discovered early on in the investigation that da Silva used her home as a prostitution den and would often prevent Martins from leaving.

“She was lured into a life of partying and drinking,” Campello said in August. “But then Camila started forcing her to stay there. She wouldn't let her leave, even though she wanted to, and she was sexually exploited.”

Other women were allegedly forced into performing sex work at the home, but Martins was the only one who was forced to live there. Campello added: “This victim was practically forced to perform sexual acts. From what we found out, the house operated as a massage parlour. In addition to Geovana, other girls also passed through there, but the victim lived there and could not have relationships with people from outside.”

Videos posted on da Silva's TikTok account prior to the murder showed her and Martins dancing together. Campello previously said that da Silva scared Martins by telling her she had been married to Mano Kaio, a known drug dealer in Amazonas who is wanted by authorities, and threatened to harm her if she left the home. “She said she would call the drug traffickers to break Geovana's leg, threatening to ‘make it happen’.”

Martins' mother, Maria Costa, had told Brazilian news outlet G1 she was unaware her daughter had been forced to work as a prostitute. She said: “So far we don't know anything. She had never told me anything. It's painful, knowing that she was working with someone and then finding out that my daughter is dead.”

Eerily, Martins described herself as a blogger and wrote in her bio: “I'm a dead person trying to live.”.