The brother of a man shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies in Southwest Miami-Dade on Tuesday morning has been arrested and faces dozens of charges related to a child porn investigation.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said the incident began to unfold Tuesday morning while deputies were trying to serve a search warrant related to a yearlong investigation into child pornography and child abuse.
Those victims, according to officials, ranged in age from infancy to 6-years-old.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Cristian Barata, the brother of the man who was killed, has since been arrested on 15 counts of possessing images of sexual performance of a child and 10 counts of promoting or attempting to promote the sexual performance of a child.
Just before 5:30 Tuesday morning, law enforcement arrived at the home on 102nd Place in Southwest Miami-Dade and tried to serve the search warrant related to the investigation.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said they were able to safely remove two adult and a child from the home. Moments later, an armed man confronted deputies at the door.
Family identified him as 21-year-old Christopher Barata.
“Our deputies fired their service weapon,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said. Christopher Barata died at the scene.
Cristian Barata and his brother, Christopher, were Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at Miami International Airport.
“The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has no tolerance for criminal behavior or misconduct on- or off-duty,” a TSA spokesperson said in a statement. “The TSA employee involved has had his access to all secure areas of the airport immediately revoked and has been removed from all duties, pending the outcome of the case.
The spokesperson said the TSA was fully cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
Family says they didn’t keep weapons in home
The men’s mother, speaking in Spanish, said: “They killed him. They killed him… My house was destroyed. Also, my life and my kids. They killed him.”
The family allowed CBS News Miami inside the home, showing loving photos of Christopher and bullet holes from the shots that killed him. The stepfather claimed they do not keep weapons in the house, contradicting the deputies’ account.
The investigation into the child exploitation case remains active.
