New details have emerged about the custody dispute involving a wealthy Houston mother who killed her young daughter hours after losing primary custody in a court ruling, before turning the gun on herself.
Charlotte Rainwater, the attorney who represented Vivian’s father, Aaron Savella, said 35-year-old Cibelle Savella was not considered a physical threat to the four-year-old child at the time.
Rainwater, who represented Aaron in the civil custody case brought by Cibelle, said the court’s concern centered instead on the potential impact of remaining in her mother’s care on Vivian’s emotional wellbeing.
When asked whether there had been any warning signs suggesting Cibelle, who lived in Houston, Texas, might become violent, Rainwater said there had been none.
“Absolutely not,” Rainwater said. “The custody change followed the judge’s ruling that afternoon and was primarily about the child’s emotional safety.”
She added that concerns about Vivian’s physical safety did not form the basis of the decision.
Cibelle Savella (left) killed her daughter Vivian (right) before shooting herself in the head on Tuesday, hours after learning that her ex-husband Aaron Savella had been awarded full custody. Cibelle died from her injuries two days later
Cibelle and Aaron are shown on their 2020 wedding day. Aaron’s attorney, Charlotte Rainwater, said the custody judge acted out of concern for Vivian’s “emotional safety” while she was in Cibelle’s care
“I don’t think anyone involved—the judge, the parties or the attorneys—expected that this child was in any way at risk of physical harm,” Rainwater said.
Only hours after Harris County Judge Audrie Lawton-Evans issued the ruling on Tuesday, Cibelle shot Vivian at the family’s $840,000 townhouse inside a gated Houston community.
Cibelle lived at the property with her second husband, Chick-fil-A franchise owner Greg Kubala.
She then shot herself in the head. Although she initially survived, Cibelle died in hospital on Thursday afternoon from her injuries, before authorities could charge her.
Rainwater declined to explain in detail what had led the court to question Vivian’s emotional safety. However, a previously obtained court docket provides some insight into the restrictions placed on Cibelle.
Cibelle, who was Brazilian, had been prohibited from speaking Portuguese in Vivian’s presence unless a Portuguese-speaking representative from Guardians of Hope was there.
Cibelle killed Vivian and then suffered a fatal self-inflicted gunshot wound at the $840,000 Houston townhouse she shared with her second husband, Greg Kubala. Police are shown at the scene
Cibelle is pictured with her second husband, Greg, in an undated photograph. Her divorce from Aaron Savella was finalized in 2024, though the timing of her second marriage remains unclear
Under Tuesday’s order, Cibelle could not be with Vivian unless a staff member from Guardians of Hope supervised the visit.
The Houston organization offers supervised visitation and child-exchange services for families involved in contentious custody disputes.
Earlier court orders had also forbidden both Cibelle and Aaron from speaking negatively about one another in front of Vivian. Neither parent was allowed to let other people in their company make disparaging comments about the child’s mother or father within her hearing.
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The ruling called for Vivian to live with Aaron, a private equity attorney. She was scheduled to be transferred to her father’s care on Tuesday evening—the same day she was killed.
Aaron would be solely in charge of decisions about her schooling, doctors and any medical treatment.
Cibelle was ordered to pay child support to Aaron and contribute 50 percent of the cost of any medical expenses.
Vivian Savella is pictured in a photo shared by her devastated father Aaron in the wake of her murder
Vivian and her father Aaron. Aaron’s lawyer Charlotte Rainwater told Our News Outlet it was ‘unfathomable’ that Cibelle would inflict such violence on the couple’s daughter
She was banned from attending Vivian’s school activities, including school lunches, performances and field trips.
Cibelle was also banned from consenting on Vivian’s behalf to any medical, dental or surgical treatment her daughter might require during an emergency.
Rainwater told Our News Outlet that there was no history of Cibelle physically abusing Vivian prior to Tuesday’s murder-suicide.
She said she was unsure why Cibelle’s marriage to Aaron had ended.
The couple wed in 2020, split in 2022 and had their divorce finalized by 2024, but legal battles over custody of Vivian were continuing to simmer at the time of the murder-suicide.
Rainwater said the divorce was resolved to the satisfaction of Cibelle and Aaron.
She said Cibelle’s decision to murder her child and kill herself was ‘unfathomable’ and that neither she, nor Aaron, nor the ‘sweet’ judge that oversaw the case had any inkling of what would unfold.
Another photo of Aaron with Vivian when she was a baby. The little girl was ‘loved without limit’ by her dad, a statement released by his attorneys said
Asked how Aaron was doing, she said his mother happened to be in Houston at the time of the murder-suicide and was now comforting her son.
Rainwater added: ‘I think that they’re doing you know as as good as you can under the circumstances.’
A statement issued on behalf of Aaron after Vivian’s murder said he was ‘devastated’ and added: ‘Aaron did everything the law asks of a parent who is trying to protect his child. He trusted the courts. He followed every order. He waited for the process to work,’ his lawyers said.
‘On Tuesday, a judge placed Vivian in his primary care, and she was supposed to come home to him that evening. She never did.’
The statement went on to say how Vivian was ‘loved without limit by her father, Aaron, and by everyone whose life she touched.’
