A heartbreaking case out of Brazil has drawn national attention after a 17-year-old girl died after eating a cake delivered to her home with a note from a supposed secret admirer. Authorities say the dessert was laced with arsenic by a jealous acquaintance.
Ana Luiza de Oliveira Neves, 17, of Itapecerica da Serra in the Greater São Paulo metropolitan area, received the bolo de pote — a popular Brazilian cake-in-a-jar dessert topped with brigadeiro — on the evening of May 30, 2025. The package included a handwritten note that read, roughly, “A little gift for the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” accompanied by a heart and colorful stickers.
Excited, thinking it was from an admirer, Ana shared her joy with friends via audio messages. She soon began experiencing severe symptoms consistent with poisoning. She was hospitalized, initially treated for suspected food poisoning, and later released, only to suffer a cardiorespiratory arrest. She died on June 1, roughly 36 hours after consuming the cake.
Police traced the delivery back to a 17-year-old female friend of Ana’s, who was arrested on June 3. The suspect confessed to purchasing a plain cake from a local bakery, mixing arsenic oxide into the brigadeiro topping at home, writing the fake romantic note, and arranging the delivery to make it appear to come from an admirer. She reportedly bought the arsenic online for a modest sum.
According to investigators, the motive was rooted in jealousy and resentment. The suspect was envious of Ana’s popularity with boys, outgoing personality, and social life. She claimed her intention was to scare or sicken Ana rather than kill her, but the dose of poison proved fatal.
The case took an even darker turn when it was revealed the suspect had allegedly sent a similar poisoned cake with a romantic note to another 17-year-old girl weeks earlier. That victim survived after receiving medical treatment.
In a detail that has particularly shaken the community, the suspect was reportedly close enough to Ana’s family that she slept over at their home on the night Ana fell ill, witnessing her distress while knowing she was responsible.
Ana’s father, Silvio Ferreira das Neves, described his daughter as a kind, trusting, and well-liked girl. Speaking to local media after her funeral on June 3, he expressed deep sorrow and disbelief at the betrayal. “She was innocent,” he said, highlighting her trusting nature that led her to accept the unexpected gift without suspicion.
As a minor, the suspect is being handled under Brazil’s Child and Adolescent Statute and has been placed in a juvenile socio-educational facility. She could be held for up to three years.
The incident has sparked widespread discussion in Brazil about the toxic effects of jealousy among adolescents, the accessibility of dangerous substances online, and the potential for seemingly harmless social gestures to mask cruel intent. It remains one of the most disturbing youth-related crimes to capture national headlines in recent memory.
This story is developing.
