Nearly three months after an 8-year-old girl was beaten to death with a wooden rolling pin, a Gwinnett County jury indicted her father and stepmother.
Natiela Barros, 34, is accused of beating Sayra Barros to death at their Bethlehem home the morning of Jan. 30 and then calling a priest instead of 911. Her husband, Cledir Barros, 37, is accused of praying over the unconscious child for up to 20 minutes before calling for help.
According to prosecutors, Natiela Barros was angry with Sayra for playing with her toast during breakfast instead of doing her schoolwork. She’d already given the child a spanking, so when the stepmother noticed Sayra wasn’t on task, she went to the kitchen, pulled out the rolling pin and started beating the girl, officials said.
Sayra was hit between 10 and 20 times, investigators noted. Most of the blows were to the base of her neck, but she’d been hit all over her body, authorities said.
“These defendants were supposed to protect and care for Sayra Barros,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “That was their primary responsibility as parents.”
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
Credit: Gwinnett County Police Department
According to records from the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Cledir Barros said his daughter “had two personalities and was causing a problem within his marriage due to the child being born out of wedlock.” While talking to investigators, he said Sayra “would steal” and referred to her as “a demon” while admitting that the stepmother “loses her cool and disciplines the child, inappropriately causing bruising,” records show.
DFCS investigates all child abuse deaths. There are no records of DFCS involvement prior to the Jan. 30 incident.
Sayra had been pulled out of school due to the alleged behavioral issues and was being homeschooled, social workers noted in the case file.
She’d been born after the couple had separated, but they eventually reunited and had two additional children, investigators added. According to records, all of the children received regular beatings, but Sayra was the only one homeschooled.
Sayra didn’t die immediately after the beating. According to DFCS records, she asked Natiela Barros to use the restroom but was not allowed and ultimately soiled herself. She then told her stepmother that she didn’t feel well before she “started to turn white” and lost consciousness, investigators detailed in the report.
But instead of calling 911, Natiela Barros called her husband, who was working and not home at the time, officials said. Instead of telling her to call 911, Cledir Barros told his wife to “pray and everything would be OK,” the report states.
Natiela Barros then called two Nigerian priests, according to DFCS records. When her husband arrived, he prayed over an unconscious Sayra for between 10 and 20 minutes before they called 911, prosecutors said.
According to the DFCS report, Cledir Barros “informed the detective that he was aware that medical attention should have been called but informed the (step)mother to pray instead.”
“No child deserves the treatment that Sayra was exposed to,” Austin-Gatson said Friday, “and our SVU team will work diligently to ensure that these defendants face justice for what they did.”
The couple were indicted Thursday. Natiela Barros is charged with malice murder and two counts of felony murder, as well as aggravated assault and first-degree cruelty to children, while Cledir Barros is charged with second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree cruelty to children.
The couple are being held in the Gwinnett jail without bond.
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