Luiz Carlos da Penha, the 43-year-old Brazilian country singer known as Matheus, who was a duo with Zé Henrique, was run over by a drunk driver on Wednesday. Matheus' father-in-law, Marcos William Ribera Vasque, 61, also died after being hit by a car. 

According to the Brazilian news website G1, quoted by Correio da Manhã, Matheus was driving with his parents-in-law, his wife and a friend towards Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his wife was going to get a visa to travel to the USA. Halfway through the journey, the singer stopped the car so that his father-in-law could get behind the wheel, at which point they were hit by a driver in a Volkswagen Virtus who was drunk. Matheus was pronounced dead at the scene, while his father-in-law was registered as seriously injured and died later.

"They took the life of my son, a 43-year-old boy. Now that he was at the peak of his career, he had fought hard, he was with a manager, Reinaldo Meirelles. They were recording his CD, he did it all on February 24th. I was very happy to see it. His brothers came and now this has happened," lamented the singer's father, Geraldo Sebastião de Carvalho. "They know that alcohol doesn't go well with driving. The authorities ask for it, but it's no use, people don't respect it," he added.

Who was the singer?

The duo Zé Henrique e Matheus recorded a CD in February this year in Ribeirão Preto, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. On social media, the artists have already announced the release of a new album soon. Matheus began working as a duo with Zé Henrique this year, before which he performed with Konrado.

Matheus and Zé Henrique became famous for singing classics such as "Desejo de Amar", a song originally performed by Chrystian and Ralf.

Interestingly, in May 2022, Matheus mourned the death of country singer Aleksandro, an artist who also died in a road accident.