Best friend determined to seek justice after death of Grantham mum

The best friend of Daniela Espirito Santo has spoken of the void her death has left in her life after the case attracted global coverage.

Daniela Espirito Santo, 23, died on April 8, 2020, hours after being assaulted by her boyfriend in the small flat they shared in Chestnut Grove, Grantham.

He had previously been arrested, but then released, by police.

He was later cleared of Daniela Espirito Santo’s manslaughter in March 2021. He was jailed for 10 months for assault, after medical experts said they were unable to prove a direct link between the assault and her

Charly Price-Wallace has spoken out about the impact Daniela's death has had on those that loved her.

The 25-year-old met Daniela in 2007 when they were pupils at the former Grantham Church High School, on Queensway.

After being paired up together on their first day in Year 7, the pair quickly became inseparable and would often spend time with each other’s families as they grew up.

Charly recalls their heartbreaking final phone call just hours before Daniela died in April 2020 after being assaulted by her boyfriend at her flat in Chestnut Grove, Grantham.

She said: “I spoke to her at about 4.30pm. She was distraught and begging for help. Because of the tough Covid restrictions in place at the time, we could only speak on the phone but she knew that I was always there whenever she needed me.”

After years of confiding in Charly about what was going on at home, Daniela was finally starting to feel optimistic about her future.

Charly added: “Things were starting to look up for her. She was due to return to work the week after she died and she’d recently made the decision that she was going to leave her flat for good and move closer to me and her family. This was such a huge step and I was so proud of her.”

Since losing Daniela, Charly has vowed to do everything in her power to seek justice for her and has spent hours scrawling through guidance published by the College of Policing.

She added: “It’s appalling the way she was treated by the police call handler in the final phone call. I feel like she was completely fobbed off. She was injured and needed help and was completely let down. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

Daniela’s boyfriend was cleared of manslaughter earlier this year after medical experts were unable to prove a direct link between the assault and her death.

He was jailed for assault but his subsequent release from has brought fresh agony for the family.

Charly added: “It’s so hard to try and move on when there has been no justice whatsoever for Daniela. The fact that he’s now out and walking the streets is just like rubbing salt into the wound for everyone that loved her.

“I feel like I have lost my right arm. We were like two peas in a pod and spent so much time together.

“I’ve been left with a huge hole in my heart that cannot be filled but it’s just been made worse as there has been no closure. We are just left with so many ifs and buts.”

Charly is now trying to come to terms with a future without her best friend.

She added: “We had so many plans for the future. I will always remember a teacher telling our class that you never remain friends with the people you met at school. This terrified Daniela and we vowed that we would be in each other’s lives forever.

“Life obviously got in the way as we got older and both had our children, but we always made time for each other.

“We would often joke about being in a care home together and terrorising the place. We just got each other’s banter.”

Charly is now hoping that the response that Daniela’s case has now had globally as a result of the New York Times coverage will help them in their quest for justice.

She added: “I already knew a lot about what was revealed in the IOPC report but now other people can know exactly what she went through. The report revealed seven incidents containing details of 10 attacks but I know there were more.

“I hope the New York Times coverage will help to raise awareness of Daniela’s case but that it will also give us the opportunity to challenge the Crown Prosecution Service and hopefully find a loophole in the law. First, we want to see what blows up from this.

“There are a number of people, groups and organisations that we are going to contact next to keep Daniela’s case out there.

“We just need to get Daniela’s voice heard. I won’t stop until we do.”

Daniela’s family declined to comment at this time.