Parents indicted on murder charges in death of Gwinnett 8-year-old beaten with rolling pin

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A grand jury has indicted two parents accused of their 8-year-old daughter’s murder after police say she was beaten with a rolling pin.

The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday morning the indictment against Natiela and Cledir Barros in the death of Sayra Barros.

Barros, girl’s stepmother, was charged with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault and cruelty to children, according to the DA’s office.

Cledir Barros, the girl’s father, was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of child cruelty, the DA’s office said.

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Channel 2 Action News first reported on the child’s death in January. Arrest warrants stated that Natiela Barros had beaten her stepdaughter with a wooden rolling pin between 10 and 20 times, then refused to get her medical care after.

Channel 2′s Audrey Washington was in court in February when the lead detective in the case told a judge that Sayra’s parents believed she was possessed by demons.

“She had demons due to being born out of wedlock,” Detective Angela Carter with the Gwinnett County Police Homicide Unit told the court the preliminary hearing.

The DA’s office said that on the day of Sayra’s death, her stepmother “got angry with young Sayra for playing with her toast during breakfast and not beginning to do her schoolwork after giving the child an initial spanking.”

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When Natiela found Sayra was not on task, the DA’s office said she went to the kitchen for the rolling pin, then hit Sayra with it between 10 and 20 times near the back of her neck.

The DA’s office said Natiela stopped when she thought she’d “gone too far,” and Sayra told her she felt ill before losing consciousness.

Natiela called her husband Cledir, who was at work. The DA’s office said she told him what happened and he came home, where the two prayed over Sayra for between 10 and 20 minutes, then called 911.

After officers and paramedics arrived, they pronounced the 8-year-old dead at the scene.

The responding officers told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson in January that the death may not have been natural and brought in homicide investigators to determine what happened.

On Jan. 31, both adult Barros were arrested. Both are currently being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail.

“These defendants were supposed to protect and care for Sayra Barros. That was their primary responsibility as parents,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “No child deserves the treatment that Sayra was exposed to, and our SVU team will work diligently to ensure that these defendants face justice for what they did.”

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