Several of the men were members of the police and were tried for the killings, but only two were convicted. The church itself and the buildings around it in Pius X Square became known as a popular location for possibly hundreds of Rio de Janeiro's street children to form a makeshift home at night. The church's personnel provides food, shelter, education and religious advice to as many of these children as possible. Many of the homeless children are involved with the illegal drug trade and prostitution , and because many of these children also live around the church during the day, police keep a constant watch on the church's surroundings.
According to survivors, on the morning of July 22, , the day before the massacre, a group of children threw stones at police cars. Subsequently, in the investigations, it was found that the shots were fired by militiamen, that used the square around the church as a selling point for drugs. As a result, six children and teenagers died and several other children and teenagers got injured.
The names of the eight victims are inscribed in a wooden cross, erected in the garden across the church:. The investigation led the police to Wagner dos Santos, one of the teenagers that survived, even though he was hit four times. Santos would suffer a second attack on September 12, , in the Central do Brasil and from then on, the Prosecutor's Office put him on the Witness Protection Program.
His testimony was fundamental in the recognition of those involved. Wagner left the country with the help of the federal government and suffers from serious health problems. According to studies conducted by associations connected to the Amnesty International , forty four of the seventy children that slept in the streets of that region lost their lives in a violent manner.
The majority of the young victims were poor and black. Wagner dos Santos, that had been shot in the Aterro do Flamengo four hours before the massacre, had the role of key-witness in the case. While he recovered in the hospital, Wagner was victim of a second attack, out of the four he suffered after the massacre.
