GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — An outburst in the courtroom led to a woman being escorted out during the third trial against a Gwinnett County father in connection with his daughter’s death.
Cledir Barros looked distraught at times on Thursday as he heard testimony against him in the third child cruelty case against him.
The two previous trials last month led to mistrials because of hung juries.
On Thursday morning, Barros’s mother had to be removed from the courtroom during an outburst while a witness testified in the case. It’s unclear what led to the outburst.
Sayra Barros, 8, died in January when prosecutors say Barros’s wife, Natiela, beat her to death with a wooden rolling pin at their home near Bethlehem. Natiela Barros is awaiting her own trial for murder.
Prosecutors said the father knew Natiela was abusive toward Sayra but left her alone with her stepmother anyway.
Sayra’s teachers have testified that Barros called his daughter a demon before he withdrew her from school two months before her death.
He has testified that he would never call his daughter a demon and that he didn’t know about abuse going on in the home.
On Thursday, an investigator who reviewed the father’s phone testified that Barros researched books about demons shortly before he withdrew Sayra from school in November 2023.
“A book called ‘They Shall Expel Demons: What You Need to Know About Demons, Your Invisible Enemies,’” testified Jessica Pironis, an investigator with the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say it took him approximately 90 minutes to call 911 after his wife called to tell him Sayra was dead.
“Four calls to pastors or churches in Africa before 911 was called?” asked Assistant District Attorney Megan Matteucci.
“Yes ma’am,” Pironis answered during testimony.
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