Mom convicted of killing 8-year-old girl also abused other kids, GA officials say

A mother convicted of killing her 8-year-old daughter will spend the rest of her life in prison, a Georgia court ruled.

Brittany Nicole Hall, who pleaded guilty to felony murder, among other charges, was sentenced Sept. 23 to life in prison following the 2021 death of her daughter Amari Hall, according to the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office.

“This is by far, the most heinous, evil I have ever seen in my entire career, and I do not understand it,” Judge Angela Duncan said during the 2024 sentencing for Celeste Owens, Hall’s partner, who was also sentenced to life in prison, WAGA reported.

Hall and Owens, of Norcross, reported Amari missing in November 2021, officials said. At the time, authorities said the 8-year-old, who had autism, was wearing a Tweety Bird jacket and pajamas when she vanished from an Atlanta-area hotel, McClatchy News reported.

“The couple... told police that they woke up around 10 a.m., and noticed that Amari Hall was gone,” the district attorney said.

But as evidence of abuse mounted, investigators determined the couple was not telling the truth, officials said.

Just days after Amari was reported missing, she was found dead in a shallow grave in a wooded area of DeKalb County, a neighboring county of Gwinnett.

“You could still see her body through some of the trash bags,” Kea Jimenez, a crime scene investigation supervisor with Gwinnett County Police, testified in December, WSB reported.

Authorities said Amari was beaten to death.

Before Amari’s body was found, Owens had rented a U-Haul van and drove to DeKalb County, prosecutors said.

Owens was accused of searching on her phone, “What to do when a child just doesn’t listen,” “Lakes near me,” “How do I report someone missing” and other related queries, according to the investigators.

The investigation revealed previous signs of abuse against Amari and her siblings. Prosecutors said more than 12 videos showed Hall — the biological mom of the three kids — and Owens had been beating the children.

One video showed Hall walk “over to the victim and (slap) the victim 11 times on the back,” according to a warrant obtained by WXIA.

She was also accused of kicking and punching her children, WXIA reported.

Hall, 31, pleaded guilty to felony murder, 11 counts of cruelty to children, concealing the death of another and making false statement, officials said.

“This mother failed to protect her children and joined in the abuse,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “This ended tragically. We continue to pray that her siblings can heal from the abuse they endured and that this plea brings closure to them and their extended family.”

Barbara Wright, the victim’s grandmother, said in court her “heart is empty” following the death of Amari, WAGA reported.

“My heart is broken in millions of pieces that I have not been able to put back together,” she said, according to WAGA.

This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Mom convicted of killing 8-year-old girl also abused other kids, GA officials say."