Found Deceased GA - William Deshawn Hamilton, 6, 1999, unidentified for 23 years, his mother Teresa Black charged.

[JennyJukes]

You're very welcome.
I'm still about a day and a half behind on the trial but of course the verdict is now out. I'm wondering whether to continue documenting the remaining testimonies or to leave it?

I'm following along - thank you for posting it! If you don't have the time to though, please post the link for me.

 

[Chelly]

If you're up to it, I would say continue documenting. It can help us better understand what went wrong with this case.

It seems in the minds of the jurors, the State didn't present sufficient evidence to convict her of felony murder, child abuse and assault. IMO

 

[Moonstrawbs]

It seems in the minds of the jurors, the State didn't present sufficient evidence to convict her of felony murder, child abuse and assault. IMO

I'm seeing people say there were inconsistencies with the closing statement, I haven't seen it yet. Such a shame, a hard case to prove either way I'm sure.

 

[Moonstrawbs]

I'll keep at it and document the remaining testimonies. I'll try to pick up on the inconsistencies in the prosecution's case.

I've also seen comments that their timeline was not clear which may have affected the case. I do agree with that to some point, it was hard to keep track of and maybe should have been outlined earlier on.

 

[JennieM]

Verdict reached in Teresa Black murder trial decades after son's death

A DeKalb County jury found the mother not guilty on all counts, except for one, which was concealing the death of another.

www.11alive.com

• Felony murder
  • Count 1 - Not Guilty
  • Count 2 - Not Guilty
• Cruelty to children
  • Count 1 - Not Guilty
  • Count 2 - Not Guilty
• Aggravated Assault - Not Guilty
• Concealing the death of another - Guilty

The mother's sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.

Cruelty to children, not guilty. She certainly got away with much.

 

[Moonstrawbs]

Cruelty to children, not guilty. She certainly got away with much.

I don't understand how. From what I saw I feel the prosecution did present a good case of how Teresa was very neglectful towards William which in a way is cruelty. Plus not to mention accounts of her being physical with him. They shown how many options and offers of help were there for Teresa and how she never took them. JMO.

 

[JennieM]

I don't understand how. From what I saw I feel the prosecution did present a good case of how Teresa was very neglectful towards William which in a way is cruelty. Plus not to mention accounts of her being physical with him. They shown how many options and offers of help were there for Teresa and how she never took them. JMO.

I agree with you, I don‘t understand either. Being malnourished, smelling of urine and ending up dead when in her care. Is that caring or is that cruelty?

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

yes, but there is no evidence of those things or of her causing those things, that's the linchpin here. As empathic and compassionate as I am, there does not seem to have been much proof. Circumstantial evidence also lacking, sorry, it just was. I can understand this verdict even though I agree WILLIAM DESHAWN HAMILTON was at the very least, "neglected". Wetting the bed at his age is usually a result of some pretty sad things, so I'll leave that there.

 

[Moonstrawbs]

She admits he was sick and she did not get him help, then he died. What does this mean? Surely that is negligence and cruelty that she is admitting to. I'll be back tomorrow to continue with notes of testimonies.

 

[vls12345]

'It was tough' | DeKalb DA, jurors react after verdict reached in Teresa Black trial

Shortly after the verdict was released, jurors and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston spoke with news reporters reacting to the verdict.

www.11alive.com