The mother of a Brazilian au pair accused of shooting a man dead in the Virginia home of her employer made a series of intriguing claims about the case over the weekend—including that her daughter had acted in self-defense.
Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 23, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder last week in the death of 39-year-old Joseph Ryan in the town of Herndon on Feb. 24. At the scene—which the Fairfax County Police Department described as “appalling”—officers also found Magalhaes’ employer, Christine Banfield, who had suffered stab wounds.
Banfield, 37, was rushed to a local hospital where she died from her injuries. Police have not charged Magalhaes in Banfield’s death, with the investigation into her fatal stabbing still ongoing.
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Officers went to the house in Herndon after 911 calls were made from Magalhaes’ cellphone. The first call at around 7:50 a.m. was quickly disconnected. Soon after, Magalhaes called again and said her “friend was hurt.” Banfield’s husband, Brendan, was also on the line and reportedly told a dispatcher that Ryan had stabbed his wife—and that he had in turn shot Ryan.
The Banfields’ then 4-year-old daughter was in the house at the time of the killings but was found physically unharmed. Fairfax Police Chief Kevin Davis said in February that the girl was “the truest victim of all this.” Davis also said that authorities did not think Ryan was “necessarily a stranger” to the Banfields and that there had been no sign of a forced entry at the home.
In an interview with Brazil’s Folha newspaper published Sunday, Magalhaes’ mother, Marina Peres Souza, said she was shaken and deeply worried about her daughter’s situation. She also gave an account of what Magalhaes said happened on the morning of the deaths.
Souza says Magalhaes was arriving for work when she saw a man entering the house and, feeling scared, called Brendan Banfield to tell him about the break-in. Magalhaes and Brendan Banfield then entered the property and found Christine wounded. It was then that Magalhaes, Brendan Banfield, and Ryan allegedly got into a dispute, and Magalhaes shot Ryan to “defend herself and her family.”
Souza also claimed that Magalhaes had told her that the case had been closed around three months ago—and that Christine Banfield and Ryan had previously been in a relationship. “She told me that the case had been closed, and that the police had concluded that it was Ryan who killed Christine, because they were ex-partners,” Souza was quoted as saying. “And then we found out about two days before the arrest that they were investigating [her]. They ambushed her on Thursday before work.”
Folha was unable to confirm with Fairfax police if they had considered the possibility that Magalhaes had shot Ryan in self-defense during the course of their investigation. It’s not clear why Brendan Banfield would have initially told authorities he shot Ryan.
According to Souza, her daughter has lived in the U.S. for two years but had wanted to return home to Brazil. Her visa expired about two weeks ago, but Souza says she just applied for a renewal.
“They are saying horrible things about my daughter, that she only did this to stay in the country, but it’s not true,” Souza said, adding that her daughter had not yet had contact with a lawyer and hadn’t been offered any assistance by the Brazilian government.
“She wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Souza said. “I hope this story gets resolved.”
