The heartbroken sister of murder victim Bruna Fonseca has said she wishes she could have done more to help her younger sibling.
Izabel Fonseca flew 11,000km from her home in Brazil to where her sister’s remain lie in a funeral home in Ballincollig, Co Cork, “to believe she was really dead”.
Before bringing her body back to Formiga in Minas Gerais, where she will be buried next to their grandparents, she said: “I am sorry I could not protect you.
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“And now, at this moment, I feel like you are protecting us. This is just your body, your soul is already with people we love and are gone.”
Ms Fonseca, 28, was found dead at a flat in Liberty Street, Cork early on New Year’s Day. A man has since been charged with her murder.
Ms Fonseca told the Sunday Independent: “The emotion is very strong because I never expected to see my younger sister in this place.
“I feel her cold body in front of me knowing that there is a girl, a woman, who has always been a light on the path of those she crossed.
“This is a place of peace, but it is not easy to see her and not be able to feel her embrace.”
Ms Fonseca visited the funeral home the day after landing at Cork Airport after making the long journey from Brazil via Barcelona and Paris.
She said as she got closer to Ireland the pain of losing her sister became more real but revealed locals have welcomed her “with open arms”.
Ms Fonseca added: “I knew it was getting closer and it brought a lot of pain. It was becoming more real.”
At the apartment where Bruna’s body was found, she said she wished she could have been there to help her sister.
Ms Fonseca added: “I feel pain. I feel the love that people had for Bruna.
“I should have been here with her. That will remain in my memory. I should have said: ‘I’ll bring you home.’ I wanted to be here, but not like this.”
Last Thursday, Bruna’s coffin was brought to Dublin Airport to be flown back to Brazil.
Miller Pacheco, 29, who is also Brazilian, has been charged with the murder of his former partner.
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