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A mother accused of killing her 8-year-old daughter previously
considered putting her up for adoption and had been investigated
multiple times for her treatment of the girl, according to state
records.
Amari Hall was reported missing by her mother, Brittany Hall, on
Nov. 21, two days before the girl’s body was found, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Brittany Hall and her
domestic partner, Celeste Owens, were each arrested on multiple
charges before Amari’s body was found. Their charges have since been
upgraded to include murder.
Now, state records obtained by Channel 2 Action News show that Hall
had been investigated multiple times by the Department of Human
Services Division of Family and Children Services. A DHS
spokesperson acknowledged that Hall had been investigated in 2015
and 2017 with no results. She also said a report on Hall had been
filed in 2021.
“Based on these records, DHS had no reason to believe the child was
in imminent danger,” the DHS spokesperson said. “We are working
closely with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation,
and to ensure the safety and well-being of the mother’s other
children.”
Arrest warrants for the two women obtained Tuesday by Channel 2
revealed that Amari’s death was caused by multiple blows to the head
and that Hall waited nearly two days to report her daughter as
missing.
In the 911 call recording, Hall told police that Amari had autism
and that they had been “having problems with her.” Later in the
call, the 911 dispatcher asked Hall to give more details about the
severity of Amari’s autism.
“She knows her surroundings, she knows the person and stuff, it’s
her behavior,” Hall said.
Though police believe Hall knew what happened to her daughter, they
do not think she went with Owens to dump her body, Channel 2
reported. Police said Hall gave them the general area where they
could find Amari’s body, but that Owens has not spoken with them at
all.
The warrants state that Amari died after she was repeatedly hit in
the head by Owens. They also accuse Owens of placing the girl’s body
in a trash bag and abandoning it in a wooded area in a DeKalb County neighborhood.
Owens has been charged with malice murder, felony murder, concealing
a death, making false statements and seven counts of cruelty to
children, online jail records show.
Hall is accused in the warrants of causing “battered child syndrome” through repeated abuse of her daughter. She is charged with malice
murder, felony murder, false reports of a crime, making false
statements to conceal a fatality and five counts of cruelty to
children, according to jail records.
Both women are being held in the Gwinnett County Jail without bond.
Some of the child cruelty charges against Hall and Owens are related
to videos found by detectives that show Hall’s two other children, a 6-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy, being beaten, according to the
warrants. Both have been placed in protective custody, the AJC
previously reported.
When Hall’s other children were taken into custody by DHS
investigators, she told them that she had struggled to handle
Amari’s behavior. She also said she considered putting Amari up for
adoption and had called three adoption agencies before changing her
mind, Channel 2 reported.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/cops-gwinnett-8-year-old-killed-by- battered-child-syndrome/5MC2QCJJCRHMTN4O3ZPFXCRLPQ/
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