A 20-year-old Fashion Institute of Technology student who moved alone to New York for her dreams died after prosecutors say a man drugged her with fentanyl, raped her while unconscious, and delayed calling for help.
Annabel Richter came to the city to study fashion. She left her family behind in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and built a new life in a Chelsea dorm. Prosecutors now say that life ended after Moises Freire, 19, allegedly gave her and her roommate a drug he described as cocaine from Mexico on March 18.
Both women lost consciousness. First responders gave them Narcan and rushed them to a hospital. Only the roommate survived. The New York Post reported that prosecutors accuse Freire of raping Richter while she was unconscious, taking photos of her naked from the waist down, and waiting 45 minutes before calling campus security.
Freire is not an FIT student. Court papers describe him telling the women he was bringing cocaine. He had allegedly tried the substance a week earlier and likened it to “poison” in a text to a friend. Prosecutors say the drug was fentanyl.
At an April court hearing, prosecutor Ariana Bloom laid out the gap between Freire’s condition and Richter’s.
Bloom told the court:
"It is truly hard to believe that the defendant, who seemed entirely coherent and sober at the time, who didn’t have any of the substance, who is captured on the security guard’s body-worn camera seeming coherent and sober, didn’t know what was going on when he was having sex with the victim who was completely unconscious."
Prosecutors say Freire lied to campus security. He claimed the women were unconscious from too much drink and that he had not noticed Richter was passed out until after sex. The unsealed court papers describe photos he allegedly took of her while she was knocked out and shared with friends.
Cases of campus sexual violence continue to draw scrutiny nationwide, including recent rape reports and lawsuits tied to college settings.
Christina Perez, a longtime friend of Richter’s grandmother, spoke about the student she knew. Perez said Richter struck her as very sweet and kind, and very bright. She wanted to go to New York. The idea worried Perez because Richter did not have family there.
Perez told reporters:
"She struck me as very sweet and kind. She was very bright. She wanted to go to New York. The idea worried me a bit because she didn’t have anyone there, her family was still in Brazil."
Perez added that she can only imagine what it is like for the parents. “It’s a terrible situation. Very, very sad.”
Richter’s grandmother, Virginia “Gini” Richter, lives in Washington state. Perez said she has been suffering a great deal. The rest of the family came to the United States for a memorial service in Portland, Ore.
Mother Flavia Rocha, a Brazilian poet and journalist, shared an Instagram tribute days after the death. She posted a poem her daughter wrote at age 10, titled “What is Red?”, along with a photo of Annabel.
Rocha wrote:
"It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our daughter Annabel, so dearly loved by all of us. Her light remains alive in our hearts. Forever."
She had earlier told The Post that she and her daughter often discussed how women who suffered violence rarely have a voice. Rocha said she hopes Annabel’s story brings awareness and meets justice.
Accountability for sexual violence has also surfaced in other high-profile disputes, such as when commentators questioned the strength of rape claims against college students.
Freire and Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, were first arrested in March. They pleaded not guilty to an initial set of charges that did not include the rape allegation. Both remain in custody.
Court papers unsealed later upgraded the case against Freire. He is due back in court Oct. 28 to be arraigned on charges of distributing a controlled substance with the intent to commit rape, along with other narcotics counts. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison.
Peralta Cabrera faces narcotics conspiracy charges for allegedly helping Freire obtain the fentanyl. A third man, Harry Rosales Pino, has pleaded guilty to narcotics distribution resulting in death.
It is not clear from public accounts how Richter and her roommate knew Freire. The roommate has not been publicly named. Official records cited in the reporting do not spell out a full medical examiner ruling beyond the prosecutors’ description of the drug and the overdose response.
Federal and state attention to abuse and misconduct in schools has grown in parallel tracks, including when the Education Department opened investigations into districts over teacher sexual misconduct.
Prosecutors say the sequence inside the dorm room left little room for doubt about what Freire knew. He allegedly gave both women the drug. He allegedly had sex with Richter while she was completely unconscious. He allegedly took and shared photos. He waited three-quarters of an hour before campus security was called. Body-worn camera footage, according to the prosecutor, showed him coherent and sober.
Richter had left Brazil for a fashion career. She lived far from her parents. Her grandmother was the closest family member still in the United States. After her death, relatives traveled for the Portland memorial. Her mother asked that the story bring awareness and justice for women who suffer violence and lose their voice.
Freire has pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges and faces the upgraded counts in late October. Peralta Cabrera remains charged in the narcotics conspiracy. Rosales Pino has already admitted guilt on a distribution-resulting-in-death count.
When a young woman dies after alleged drugging and rape in a college dorm, the system owes her family a full accounting, and a sentence that matches the harm.
