Jury deliberating fate of Gwinnett County dad charged in 8-year-old daughter's beating death

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A jury in Gwinnett County is currently deliberating the fate of Cledir Barros, who is facing child cruelty charges in connection with the death of his 8-year-old daughter, Sayra. This marks the third trial for Barros, as the first two trials ended in mistrials when the juries were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Closing arguments concluded earlier today, with the prosecution arguing that Barros failed to protect his daughter despite knowing about previous instances of abuse by his wife, Natiela Barros. The state claims Barros pulled Sayra out of school to be homeschooled by Natiela, who is accused of beating the child to death with a rolling pin in January. The defense, however, maintains that Barros was unaware of the abuse due to his frequent travel as a truck driver.

The jury has been deliberating for about an hour and a half. In the previous trials, juries deliberated for around a day and a half before declaring they were deadlocked. Updates on the case will follow both on air and online.

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Closing arguments begin Monday in the third trial against a Gwinnett County father in connection to the death of his 8-year-old daughter.

After two mistrials where the jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict the case against Cledir Barros will soon be in a jury's hands for the third time.

Clydir Barros took the stand for a third time on Friday insisting he's innocent. His wife, Natiela, is accused of beating his 8-year-old daughter Sayra to death with a rolling pin back in January. Sayra was Natiela's step-daughter.

SEE ALSO: State fires another DFCS worker over Barros child death case

Eight-year-old Sayra Barros died Jan. 30, allegedly beaten to death by her stepmom. This photo is from her funeral announcement.

Natiela is charged with murder and is currently awaiting her own trial.

Prosecutors say Barros didn't do enough to prevent Sayra's death, claiming he knew Natiela had hurt the little girl before yet pulled her out of school to be homeschooled by her anyway.

On the stand Friday, Barros explained Sayra was getting in trouble at school.

"She's a child, so there must be something that she's not able to control, so we're gonna pull her from school because we have no problem at home," Barros said.

READ MORE: Cledir Barros faces third child cruelty trial

But the defense says Barros didn't know of any abuse due to his job as a truck driver which kept him away from home for the majority of the week.

"I've never seen any of my kids get injured from spanking ever," Barros said.

In Barros' first trial, the jury was deadlocked at 11-1. The second jury was closer at 7-5. Both juries took about a day and a half to deliberate before declaring they were unable to agree on a verdict.