GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's Note: This story might include content triggering to some.
The trial of a father facing charges in his 8-year-old daughter's death earlier this year resulted in a mistrial Monday, the district attorney's office said, after the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.
The jury began deliberating on Friday and continued into Monday. The Gwinnett County DA's Office said only 11 of the 12 jurors moved to convict, leading to a deadlocked jury.
37-year-old Cledir Barros and his wife, Natiela Barros, 34, both faced murder charges in the death of the 8-year-old girl, Sayra Barros. The district attorney accused the girl's stepmother, Natiela, of beating her to death with a rolling pin for playing with breakfast instead of doing schoolwork.
"When the stepmother discovered that Sayra was not on task, she went to the kitchen to retrieve a wooden rolling pin. Natiela Barros returned and began striking the child near the back of the neck between 10 and 20 times. She stopped once she believed she had gone too far. Sayra said she felt ill and eventually lost consciousness," a DA's release earlier this year said.
The mistrial came after Cledir took the stand in his own trial on Friday. During his testimony, he implied that he might have taken a plea of some sort and claimed he was no longer facing murder charges.
Throughout his testimony, Cledir kept mentioning his faith and speaking directly to the jury.
"Our home has been a peaceful home before this incident. It's always been a peaceful home where we live based on the foundation of the word of God," he stated at the beginning of his testimony.
Cledir's attorney, Tracy Drake, who also represented ex-Doraville officer Miles Bryant during his trial, questioned her client on Friday.
The father testified that the 8-year-old had been homeschooled at the time of the incident since October 2023; she was pulled out of school for behavioral issues while the stepmother was homeschooling her.
Cledir testified several times, stating that he had never witnessed his wife be abusive out of anger. He testified to at least a few incidents where Georgia's Department of Family and Children Services investigated the children's living situations.
Drake and prosecutors questioned Cledir about why he called DFCS an "evil organization."
"I did call the organization (DFCS) evil because, by this time, God had revealed to me that they were behind the whole plan to attack me; the whole thing was to attack me and to break the family so the whole of how they operate right now I have a revelation of all how they operate and by how they've treated me by that time that's why I did call [them that]."
During his testimony, he told attorneys about the moments he learned about his daughter's death.
Cledir stated he was on his way to Tennessee for a truck driving job when he got the call from his wife, who stated that his daughter was "gone" and that she was going to harm herself.
The 37-year-old said he rushed home, took his daughter, and kept checking on his wife, who was allegedly attempting to harm herself.
"I got home. I went upstairs. I took Sayra from her. I brought Sayra to my room, and I checked Sayra out the whole time I was praying, and then something hit me to go back to the room where she was. Before I took Sayra, when I got upstairs, she had the rope around her [wife's] neck, and then I grabbed Sayra," he stated in his testimony.
He was questioned several times about his response to the incident and why he did not call 911 as soon as he learned about his daughter's death.
A portion of the 911 call Cledir made was played in court.
"My daughter just passed out. She's not breathing," he's heard saying in the call.
Cledir then responded to the call during his testimony.
"She was cold when I called me. I'm not choosing my words to fit the investigation at the time. Me saying passed out me being bilingual, I meant passed away," he added.
"You don't think you have done anything wrong?" prosecutors asked.
"I repent every day because I was never home because I was overworking at the time. Sayra is my daughter. If I was home it wouldn't happen."
It's unclear when a new trial date might be set. It's also unclear when his wife Natiela will have her own trial.