Man who chopped off stepdaughter’s head with a machete jailed 54 years

A man who decapitated his baby stepdaughter with a machete then left her body next to a motorway has been sentenced to 54 years in prison.

His lawyer has said he will appeal the length of the sentence, saying: ‘The penalty is very high’.

Leite went out for a walk with the baby, and came back home without her – telling his partner that she had been taken while they were out.

reported that he claimed he left the baby with a stranger to go to the bathroom and when he returned, the other man kidnapped the child

However, he was not able to say what had motivated him to kill the youngster.

The case angered local residents, who set fire to the house where Leite lived with the baby’s mother.

Maria Clara’s father, Steven Roger Galvao, has two more children with the baby’s mother, who live with him.