State fires another DFCS worker over Barros child death case

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - A woman fired by Georgia DFCS, blamed for mishandling an abuse investigation that might have saved a little girl’s life, says her former bosses owe her an apology.

Alexandria Armah expressed that to the FOX 5 I-Team after learning the state Division of Family and Children Services has fired a third employee over the beating death of 8-year-old Sayra Barros – firing the very manager who Armah insisted for months was the one who actually closed an earlier complaint about the Barros family too quickly, not her.

Records show DFCS fired Social Services Specialist Supervisor Sasha Carr on August 19, after an outside investigation found she’s the one who pushed to end the earlier case a few days before Christmas, then took the final steps to make it happen.

"I want my name cleared," Armah told the I-Team. "I want them to retract everything that they said."

But an apology from the state’s child welfare agency, or even an offer of her job back, isn’t happening. The agency apparently still holds Armah partly responsible. Asked if DFCS will change any of its earlier statements about Armah, the agency responded by email through a spokeswoman, "No."

DFCS leaders declined interview requests for this story.

The I-Team reached out to Carr by phone and email, and tried knocking on her door, but she did not respond.

A warning sign, bungled

DFCS fired both Armah and case manager Shetial Wingard in February, saying they mishandled a 2023 complaint from Sayra's school that included disturbing comments allegedly made by her father.

According to records obtained by the I-Team, Harbins Elementary had reported that father Cledir Barros "referred to the child as a demon" and "admitted that the (stepmother) loses her cool and disciplines the child inappropriately causing bruising."

Records show Gwinnett County DFCS closed that complaint after 38 days, on Dec. 22. 

Sayra died about a month later. On Jan. 30, her stepmother, Natiela Barros, became angry with her for playing with her toast and not doing her school work, a statement issued by the Gwinnett County DA's office said. An initial spanking allegedly escalated into the stepmother retrieving a rolling pin from the kitchen. Then she "struck the child ten to twenty times on the back of the head, neck and arms," a Gwinnett prosecutor said in a March court hearing.

Cledir Barros is accused of knowing about his wife’s abuse, but leaving his daughter in her care anyway. The parents are being tried separately in Gwinnett County, with Cledir Barros currently on trial for a third time after two hung juries.

In the weeks after Sayra’s killing, personnel records show DFCS zeroed in on Armah and Wingard. In an email recommending their terminations, then-Gwinnett DFCS Director Travis Moses cited a "pattern of closing … cases (particularly when child vulnerability is high) without fully assessing for safety of the children," saying they should be let go for "reckless assessment decisions/conduct."

But Armah later spoke out to the FOX 5 I-Team, saying that during most of the case, including when it was being closed, she wasn’t even in Gwinnett County, but in a classroom in Griffin for mandatory supervisor training.

Initially, she blamed unnamed superiors in the Gwinnett DFCS office.

"I feel like my name was tarnished," Armah said in March, "to protect and to save their livelihoods."

She said who closed it

In a second interview in May, Armah identified Carr – who ranked immediately above her – as the person who actually closed the earlier abuse allegation.

The state stood by Armah's firing, though. Responding to the I-Team’s questions, DFCS provided what it described as a line of data from its case management system, showing an "Investigation Conclusion" of "Barros, Cledir" on "12/22/2023," with the name "Armah, Alexandr."

It would take outside eyes to go deeper.

State records show Georgia Department of Human Services Commissioner Candice Broce asked for an impartial probe by the state Inspector General’s office in May – a week after FOX 5 aired a third story on Armah’s firing.

Moses, the Gwinnett DFCS director when Sayra died, has been promoted to a DFCS regional director. In a May meeting, Carr told him, "I did not close that case," according to an Aug. 14 letter from Inspector General Nigel Lange to the DHS commissioner. The I-Team obtained that letter in an open records request for Carr's personnel file.

But the Inspector General "found evidence to the contrary," the letter says, including a Dec. 22 email where Carr told Armah and her case worker to submit the case for approval "by noon that day."

When the Inspector General checked the DFCS case management system, it found Carr took the final step in closing the Barros case. The letter to Commissioner Broce says, "SHINES revealed the CPS Investigation was approved by Ms. Carr, which closed the case and contradicted her statement …"

So why didn't Gwinnett DFCS know that already?

The agency said in a written answer to that question, "This case is complex. There were several shortcomings, but sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain who holds the ultimate responsibility due to case coordination and shared decision-making."

A culture problem?

The letter says the Inspector General took issue with Carr’s dishonesty, concluding "she lied" regarding her involvement in closing the case.

The letter also says Carr blamed "DHS culture," saying "overdue cases are frowned upon."

Armah had also described such a culture in the Gwinnett office to the I-Team.

"A lot of case closures, it's about the numbers as opposed to the real issues that are going on with families and children," Armah said last month. "I feel that there were other things that could have been done (in the Barros case). One of those things being the case manager going out and seeing that kid again."

A letter from DFCS to Carr, informing her she's being separated, accuses her of "negligence in the performance of your job duties," citing a list of policy violations. DFCS told the I-Team her firing was also because of "the State IG’s letter which outlines various performance issues and policy violations."

Other DFCS records raise questions about why the agency didn't focus on Carr to begin with. While Armah had a clean disciplinary record and had just been promoted to supervisor, Carr's personnel file shows her being disciplined five times, including for closing cases without reviewing them properly. The records describe that as her responsibility – to make final decisions on cases and to close them when needed.

Inspector General Lange said his investigation into the case closing remains ongoing. Sayra Barros’ death is also being investigated the Georgia Office of the Child Advocate.