EP. 191: GEORGIA - The Child In The Trash Bag: The Disturbing Murder of Amari Hall
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On a cold November night in 2021, 8-year-old Amari Hall suddenly disappeared from the hometown studios, an extended stay hotel in the Peachtree Corners area of Gwinnett County, Georgia. Amari's mother, Brittany Hall, claimed that Amari fell asleep at around 10 p.m., safe and sound inside the hotel room. However, when she woke up that next morning, Amari was nowhere to be found.

And disturbingly, the door to the hotel room was left ajar. Investigators in Georgia worked tirelessly to find the little girl. And in the beginning, they had hope that she would be found alive. However, with each passing hour, investigators were growing more and more suspicious of the main people in Amari's life. There were timelines that didn't match up. Lies exposed.

and cell phone data that painted a horrible picture of child abuse and torture. And sadly, this story would end in the worst way you can imagine. So this is the story of Amari Hall. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America. ♪♪

On October 30th, 2013, a little baby girl named Amori Nicole Hall was brought into the world. It was Brittany Hall's first child, and even though the father wasn't in the picture, Brittany was excited to venture into motherhood. But being a single mother isn't easy. Luckily for her, Brittany's mother, Barbara Wright, was more than willing to help her out.

Soon after her birth, Brittany and baby Amore moved in with Barbara and her husband Tony in their home located in DeKalb County, Georgia. And for the first few years of Amore's life, things were going well. She had a good support system. She was surrounded by people who loved her.

Barbara, who Amori called Gigi, said that growing up, Amori was a curious, intelligent, and vibrant child who enjoyed playing dress-up and helping her grandmother cook. Barbara said that she will never forget the first time they made cornbread together. Amori helped her crack the eggs, stir the batter, and butter the pan. And when it was time to pull it out of the oven, Amori's eyes lit up. She was so proud of herself, making something with her own two hands and watching it form into what she said looked like a beautiful cake.

A few years later in June of 2015, Brittany Hall would give birth to her second daughter named Zaire. And by then,

Barbara's house was feeling a little crowded, so she actually decided to help her daughter Brittany get an apartment of her own. For the first time in years, Brittany was on her own and she now had two young children. Things weren't easy and every so often she would send the kids back with her mom Barbara when she was feeling overwhelmed. Now the following year on September 19th, 2016, Brittany would give birth to her third child.

a son named Jakari, and he had the same father as her second daughter, Zaire. But from what I could tell, the father wasn't very present in the children's lives. So after the birth of her third kid, Brittany decided to move back in with her mother for a period of time. Barbara wanted to make sure the kids were taken care of, and once Brittany was back on her feet, she would once again move back out on her own. Here is Barbara Wright. Because when...

I'm old school, so when your daughter has a baby, you know, your mom comes in to help take care of her and make sure everything's okay. And then she went back to her apartment. Okay, so she stayed with you for a period of time? Not a long time, yeah. She had gotten used to, you know, raising the kids.

So as you can see, the first few years of Amari's life were a little unstable, having to move back and forth between her mother and grandmother's house. But in the end, she was cared for. Her grandmother Barbara stated that Amari was the brightest light. She brought a smile to everyone around her. And like every little girl, she had dreams of what she wanted to become when

when she was older. And Amari wanted to be a hairdresser. Any chance she could, Amari was playing with everyone's hair. And if it wasn't her mom or grandma's hair, she was doing her doll's hair. What about her hair? Did she love her hair? She did. We would play with each other's hair. At first she told me she wanted to be a hairdresser. Because she liked it long hair, so she wanted to be a hairdresser. So I would buy her dolls. Heads and dolls and

We would play with the doll's head and I would do her head and he was like, "DJ, it's my turn to do your hair." So, yes. Amari was also very well behaved and an excellent student at Flat Shoals Elementary School. Now, according to her mom, Brittany, Amari was diagnosed with high functioning autism, but the rest of her family never knew about this diagnosis.

When Brittany wasn't available to take her children to the pediatrician, Barbara took them and she was never told that Amari was autistic. And Barbara spent a lot of time with the child. In fact, for the entire year of 2020 and in the beginning of 2021, Barbara took care of all three of Brittany's children. But for years, it had been this back and forth of sending her kids to live with grandma. But finally in 2021, Brittany decided that she wanted them back.

So that's what she did. - Now Barbara was a huge figure in the children's lives, but once Brittany came back to get her children, they lost touch with their grandma for a while. Disturbingly,

Once Brittany took them back, she didn't even tell her mom where she was going. For months, Barbara called and texted her daughter over and over again, trying to get in touch with her, but they all went unanswered. But then finally Brittany picked up the phone. Barbara was so relieved to finally hear her voice. But when she asked where Brittany was located, she still refused to tell her. So Barbara then asked, "Well, can we FaceTime? I'd love to see the kids."

But Brittany once again refused. Tell me about how you would try contacting her. I would call her cell number. I would text her. We would try to FaceTime her. There was no response at a lot of the times. And if she did, it would be weeks later. We would ask to FaceTime, but she would never FaceTime us.

Was it difficult for you to not be able to see the children? Yes. Mr. Wright was also very involved in their lives? Yes. Now, at some point, did you and Mr. Wright try to physically find the children? Yes. When you were not getting a response? Yes. How did you do that? We was driving around from the last place they might have stayed looking for them. Not only that,

We would even try to ask her to tell us where they stay. Did you actually drive from different hotels? Yeah, we would drive, hoping that we would find them, but we could never find them.

barbara never knew why brittany stopped communication and stated that the two never even had a falling out she said that although the two had disagreements there was never a moment where she pushed her daughter away the last holiday she spent with brittany amore zeir and jakari christmas 2020 had been a happy occasion yeah because the type of parent on there you might have a disagreement but you make up because you love your kids so you know you don't hinder that

Right there, so. So everything was fine as far as you're out? Yes, it's the type of mother I am, yes. Okay. And obviously you had daily contact with the kids when they were living under your roof. Every day, every day. And so when did that stop? When I didn't get a chance to see them again and was looking for them. That stopped. I just don't remember when. Okay.

When Amari left your house and went off with Brittany and her siblings, did you have any cares or concerns? I had cares for all of them. Talking about anything specific, not general? I always have cared for Amari. She's my granddaughter.

Throughout 2021, Barbara and Tony tried on numerous occasions to locate the children, but to no avail. And in the meantime, Brittany had rekindled an on-again, off-again relationship with a 29-year-old woman named Celeste Owens. It was reported that Brittany and Celeste had been friends since they were teenagers, but they weren't romantically involved until their late twenties.

And this time around, things were serious between the two. Celeste had even moved in with Brittany and her three kids, and they were instructed to call Celeste "dad."

But their life together was unstable, to say the least. Brittany, Celeste, and the three children moved around constantly, never staying in one place for too long. They often lived in various extended-stay hotels. In the spring of 2021, they were living at the Congress Inn in Norcross, Georgia. Then in August, they moved into room 251 at the Hometown Studios.

Now, for work, Brittany considered herself to be a spiritual healer, and she also claimed to have homeschooled Amari, Zaire, and Jakari. And her partner, Celeste, reportedly worked as an artist. Their careers weren't really bringing in a lot of money. They also didn't have vehicles, so anytime they needed to get somewhere, they had to rely on Uber or Lyft. Now, Brittany's mom, Barbara, truly had no idea what was going on in her daughter's life. She

She didn't know that the kids were bouncing around to hotel rooms or that they barely had enough money to let the kids eat. And Barbara could never get a hold of Brittany to get any updates. But towards the beginning of 2021, she had this horrible feeling that something was wrong. However, she had no idea just how bad things had gotten, especially for her oldest granddaughter, Amari.

While their family was drifting around town to different hotel rooms, the children were also experiencing unimaginable physical, emotional, and verbal abuse. Brittany Hall and Celeste Owens had turned their home into a prison. The children were not only denied love and care, but also basic needs like food or a bed. But Brittany and Celeste got plenty to eat. They got to sleep in the hotel room's bed,

while the kids, Amari, Zaire, and Jakari, had to sleep on the cold ground with no pillows or blankets. The Georgia Department of Human Services Division of Family and Children Services had a history with Brittany and her oldest child, Amari. There were three investigations of abuse and neglect opened in 2015, 2017, and 2021. Ultimately, DHS never found enough evidence to charge Brittany, and she was allowed to keep her three children.

Of course, the truth would finally be revealed on the morning of Sunday, November 21st, 2021. That Sunday morning around 9.15 a.m.,

Brittany Hall called the Gwinnett County Police Department to report that her daughter Amari was not in the hotel room when she woke up. Brittany was frantic as she stated that Amari had gone to sleep the previous night at around 10:00 PM. But when she woke up at 9:00 AM, her daughter was nowhere to be found. She also said that the front door was left slightly ajar, suggesting that Amari may have left the hotel on her own. Brittany mentioned that Amari was diagnosed with high functioning autism,

but that she was extremely intelligent. She stated, "She is very, very smart. Even though she is autistic, she's very aware of things. She's very observant."

"This hurts." She told dispatch that Amari knew not to close the door behind her when she left because she knew it would wake up everyone in the room. So she likely left the door cracked on purpose. Additionally, the medication she took for her autism was also missing. The dispatcher asked Brittany if Amari was known to walk out of the room by herself and Brittany replied, "No, but we've been having problems with her."

"And those problems," Brittany stated, "were due to her high functioning autism." Brittany said that Amari knew her surroundings, but her behavior had been a huge problem in their home.

It wasn't long before police officers arrived at the hometown studios to speak with Brittany and her partner Celeste, and immediately they started searching nearby areas for any signs of 8-year-old Amari Hall. Officer Jonathan Sorensen was the on-call detective for the Special Victims Unit that weekend and arrived at room 251 around noon. Before he was dispatched to the scene, Officer Sorensen issued a BOLO alert with a description of the area and what Amari was last seen wearing. It

It read: "The Gwinnett County Police Department is searching for 8-year-old female Nicole Hall. Hall was last seen by her mother between midnight and 1:00 a.m. this morning. Hall went missing from the Homewood Studios at 7049 Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Hall has autism and is new to the Peachtree Corners area. Hall was last seen wearing a blue Tweety Bird jacket with a blue and white pajama set. She is possibly wearing her glasses and her rainbow light-up shoes."

Hall is 4 foot 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 80 pounds. She's a black female with brown eyes and black shoulder-length hair. Hall's mother is extremely concerned for her daughter's safety. Anyone who may come into contact with her or learn of her whereabouts to call the police immediately.

Officer Sorensen said that when he pulled into the parking lot, there were 15 officers from Gwinnett County and a few more from neighboring precincts who were on foot with canines searching the wooded areas near the hotel. They were also going door to door to different businesses to see if anyone had seen Amari. Helicopters and the Division of Family and Children Services were also on scene to help with the large-scale search operation.

But something Sorensen quickly noted was the state of Brittany Hall's hotel room. Tell us when you got there, who all was in room 251? So I met with Brittany Hall and Mrs. Celeste Owens, and then I could see on the second bed to the left, like two little heads like laying down. I literally could just see their heads. So I was assuming those were two other people, which I was later told it was the other children.

Approximately how long would you say would you have been in the room speaking? I went in and out of the room several times. I think the first time I was in there for 30-45 minutes and probably total in there for maybe a couple hours. And during that time as you're in and out and in the room, did those two little heads ever move or get out of bed?

No, no, they were, I mean, they looked asleep and I was told they were asleep. I was actually told, I think by Brittany, that usually the kids sleep till about 11 or noon-ish. They sleep in pretty late. And in your time there, even with all the 10 or 15 officers, et cetera, coming in and out, did the children ever get out of bed or walk around? No, no, they never moved from the bed until we had left. Now, your initial response, um,

Explain to the members of the jury what the demeanor of both Brittany Hall and Celeste Owens was like at the time. So when I got there and I was interviewing them first to try to figure out timelines and stuff like that, probably demeanor was just kind of how we're just talking right now. Pretty calm and just sitting there just talking. I think it wasn't until like 25 minutes in or so that I think Brittany then started to cry a little bit.

No, but I know like with Celeste again, it was just the demeanor was just how we're talking now. Pretty calm.

Were you able to determine what the relationship between Brittany Hall and Celeste Owens was? Yeah, I was told they were like girlfriends, known each other for a long time, lived together for a while. So not officially married, but just been dating, girlfriend type deal. And were you able to determine who the biological mother of the other two children in Amari was at that time? Yeah, Brittany told me that they're her biological children. Was Celeste related to the children in any way other than just being the girlfriend of Brittany?

No, no, there was no blood or marriage or family relation. And when you got there, did you have a look around the room? Yeah, especially with just how we handle missing or runaway kids. We always check the house, apartment or whatever just to make sure because there's been plenty of times that kids have been hiding under beds and stuff like that. So I'd walked around the hotel room, checked the bathroom, kitchen area, beds, under the beds, behind some, there was a lot of like just bags of clothes, suitcases of clothes and stuff, checked around. But we didn't see Marty.

What about any sort of children's toys, children's paraphernalia, anything like that that you observed from your initial time there? No, it was mainly just literally like a lot of clothes. I think there was like 10 bags and suitcases of just clothes and stuff. I wouldn't, you know, having young children, we have toys everywhere. I didn't really see any toys or anything like that laying out.

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Officer Sorensen learned that Brittany and Celeste had been living at the hotel for nearly four months. They moved there after being forced to leave the Congress Inn due to it permanently closing. But as he walked around their small hotel room that morning, he noticed that not only were there no toys for the three young children,

but that there was not a designated area for homeschooling. There were no computers, school books, or even pencils and markers to indicate that Brittany did in fact homeschool her kids. The reality was they weren't being homeschooled.

Officers also discovered multiple trash bags around the room with various items of clothing, some of which were soiled with urine. In one bag located to the left of the bed, they found a children's diaper that was wrapped in duct tape and a set of rubber gloves. On top of the refrigerator was a box of white trash bags and a bottle of bleach.

Now to an investigator, these items may raise some red flags, but there was nothing that screamed that Amari was met with foul play, at least not in this hotel room. So from here, investigators speak with Brittany, Amari's mom, and they wanna get any information they can. Brittany once again told the officers-

that Amari had gone to sleep on Saturday, November 20th at around 10 p.m. And once she was asleep, Brittany took a lift to the BP gas station. She admitted that she was only gone for around 20 minutes and that her girlfriend Celeste stayed behind to watch the kids.

Brittany said that when she returned, Amari was still sleeping in the room. Now her girlfriend Celeste told officers that after Brittany came back home from the store, she had her sister pick her up and take her to her grandmother's house so she could babysit her niece and nephew. And Celeste claimed that she was there all night long. In fact, she said she came back to the hotel at around five that morning. So naturally, when Celeste tells the officers this,

They have some questions. The first thing they ask is, "When you came back to the hotel room this morning, did you see Amari?" But Celeste couldn't really give an answer. She claimed that it was too dark in the hotel room, so she didn't really notice if Amari was there or not. Once she arrived, she said she went back to sleep and it wasn't until hours later when Brittany woke her up in a panic, claiming that Amari was missing.

According to Brittany, when she realized that Amari wasn't in the room, she rushed outside and began looking for her. Brittany said she searched the parking lot, checked the back of the hotel, and she went floor to floor to see if anyone had seen her. But after about five minutes of searching, Brittany decided to call 911.

Now, Officer Sorensen knew that there were surveillance cameras at the hometown studios. And luckily, there was even one near Brittany and Celeste's doorway. So from there, he walked to the management office to review the camera footage. And what he saw would immediately raise some red flags.

Shockingly, there wasn't any footage of Amari leaving the hotel room that morning. There was also no footage of her wandering around all on her own. They also checked the footage to see if Brittany, Amari's mom, had actually looked for her. They were expecting to see on the camera a frantic mother running around looking for her daughter.

But surprisingly, Brittany was not on the footage either. She had not left the room that morning to search for Amari like she had claimed. In total, eight cameras were searched.

including cameras from a nearby car wash and hibachi restaurant. None of them showed Amari or Brittany Hall, who said she was looking for her daughter. So why lie? Yeah, after I initially spoke with Brittany and Celeste and checked the hotel room, she actually went out to the management office to actually review the footage. I think we started talking

just in case the time frame wasn't perfect around, I told them to start at 8:00 AM that morning on the 21st up until the first officer arrived and reviewing the multiple camera angles. Cause there's even one not directly above their door, but on that same level and same side of the building that actually goes all the way towards the back. Reviewing all those camera footage angles and stuff. I did not see Brittany walking around at all on any of the cameras.

Did you see anybody as far as Brittany, Celeste or Amari walking around or any of the children? No, none of the children, Brittany nor Celeste, none of them were seen on any of the cameras walking around from 8 a.m. up until officers arrived.

From the very beginning, investigators knew that something was wrong here. What were Brittany and Celeste hiding? From here, both women were taken to the police station for questioning, and on multiple occasions, their stories changed. But throughout it all, they both stayed calm and collected. Um...

No, there was a couple statements that kept changing, either from when the initial officer spoke to him to even when I was speaking with him. And as one would, as either Brittany would say something, either Celeste would pipe up and change it, or if Celeste made a statement on her time frame or how, when she got home, then Brittany would change her statement of how their whole timelines and events occurred prior to police arrival.

That night, both Brittany and Celeste were allowed to go back home as there was no evidence to hold them. And sadly, by 4:30 PM that day, there was still no sign of Amari Hall, despite the massive search in and around hometown studios. Soon enough, the sun was going down and the air outside was getting colder and authorities continue to worry about the safety of the eight-year-old little girl.

Now, they had obtained a vacant room list from on-site maintenance, and using this list, they went room to room to make sure Amari wasn't kidnapped or walked into an empty room by herself. They also called guests of the hotel to see if anyone witnessed anything, but unfortunately, no one had seen Amari Hall. So, from here, Gwinnett Police issued a public statement that said that they did not have any leads, but were confident that no foul play was involved.

Corporal Kylie Boney stated: "Ms. Hall is new to the area, so she doesn't have a lot of friends or family she would reach out to. Officers are just patrolling the area, searching the woods, searching different businesses, trying to figure out where she could have gone. Wherever she is, I trust that the public, alongside the police department and our resources, we can locate Nicole and try and give the family some answers."

Now, I'm not sure why authorities told the public that they didn't suspect foul play because Brittany and Celeste were raising all the red flags. Their stories were changing. They weren't matching up. Maybe authorities didn't want them to suspect that they were onto them. But soon enough, the women were back at the police station for questioning. And specifically, authorities wanted to know everything that happened that weekend, everything that led up to Amari's disappearance.

Yes, I think it was around 3 or 4 p.m. It was after a few hours that I was there and over six or seven hours of police being there and Amari still being missing. I had asked both of them if they would come up to headquarters just so we can get a very detailed timeline, order events, mainly for that day, the previous day, over the weekend, just to make sure we're not missing anything today.

that could probably help locate Amari, which they both agreed to come with. And I told them to bring the children as well, mainly just because they couldn't get any family members to come to the hotel and I wasn't going to leave the two kids there. So we were able to get, they agreed, Celeste and Brittany, to come up with the children to our police headquarters for additional interviews.

Once they were at the police station, Celeste Owens was taken into interview room number 3 and Brittany Hall was taken into interview room number 1 Both children, Zaire and Jakari, were instructed to wait in a waiting room equipped with children's toys while Brittany and Celeste were questioned Officer Sorensen and Detective Matthew Conway were assigned to interview Celeste It was obvious from the beginning that Celeste struggled to keep her timeline straight

Here's some footage from Celeste's interview. Now, at points, you'll hear her call Amari Nicole, because she sometimes went by both names. You woke up, you went to the store, you said it was probably around 11 a.m. because you usually don't shop at noon or later. And then you came back, and then you left to go to BP, you walked there, and then you came back again. Do you remember around what time that was, your first BP visit? My first, no, I can't remember the call.

- If you had a light, just had a guess. - I was just all over the place. - Is it, say, between one and six? - Yeah, I would say between one and six. - Between one and six? - Still some daylight out? - Yeah. - Okay, and then you come back, and then you said you left again to go get cigarettes. Around what time do you think that was? Was it dark out, light out? - When I left again to go see, it was still light out. - Still light out? - Mm-hmm. - And when you came back, was it light out? - Dark. - So you left to get cigarettes, it was light out, and you came back, it was dark? - Well, it was dark, yeah. - Okay.

And then that's when she wants to go to the store and get some snacks and stuff ready for the next day for the kids. And that's when...

- No, I left again, and I came back. - And which store was that when you went to go get snacks? - I didn't go get snacks. Brittany went to go get snacks. I had to BP. - Okay, so you get back up to the cigarettes, and then Brittany wants to go get snacks from the BP. So Brittany goes to the store while you're home? - Mm-hmm, the kids are not left alone. - Okay, okay, so Brittany wanted snacks, so then Brittany left. - Do you know what time she left?

It had to be, I want to say 10, around 10. It was dark. Okay. And did she walk also? Yes. She walked to the BP? I think she, BP, she lifted to the BP. She took a lift to the BP? She lifted to the BP. Yesterday. Okay. So Brittany goes to BP to get snacks. Mm-hmm. And then she comes back and says it's been about 10 minutes. What happens right after that? Right after that, too, I leave. Okay, you leave. And where'd you go? I went with my sister.

Okay. Did y'all walk somewhere, ride somewhere? Me and my sister? Yeah. Yeah, we went somewhere. Where'd you guys ride to? Back to my grandma's house, 1530, and took her. And your sister drove? Her car, your car. What type of car did she drive? I think it was her boyfriend's car. I really can't remember because I remember her telling me that her car was fixing, but her car she drives is a white Toyota. What car did you guys ride in? It was a black car like a Nissan. So you and your sister go to grandma's house?

And about what time do you think you left with your sister at grandma's house? You said... The time I left? Yeah. As soon as she got back. So that would probably be 10 or 11 p.m.? Yeah. And how long do you think you were at grandma's house for? I don't know if I came back. I would say four hours because then I came back before five. It was like early months. My son wasn't probably in love, but it was daylight. And that's when I noticed when I...

just walked up to the door and pushed us in. You know, that's kind of strange. And then that's when I came in. I kicked off my shoes. I laid in the bed and I closed the door. So you get back and your sister drops you off and that's between four and five in the morning. And you said you go in and how did you get in the room? Do you have like a key card you use? Do you knock? I normally knock, but see this time when I went, I went like this. But sometimes with that door, you have to push sometimes with the door and all the time.

So I noticed before I went to knock on my first one, it kind of went in. So that's when I laid on the bed and I was like, you know, but he didn't close it all the way. And I was a bit tired. So I don't know if I put the latch on or off, but it really don't matter because Maury's almost my height and she can easily push that in and do it. I didn't have much. - Now, when you get back around four or five, did you notice that the kids were in their bed or? - I didn't, well, it's like, I didn't think to notice that she would go.

So I'm assuming when I, yeah I didn't really look because my corner, I went straight to my corner which was on the right side. So as soon as you open the door, my, my... So you just wanted to go to bed. You weren't really like checking to see if they were there or not. You just assumed they were. Yeah. And was Brittany, Brittany was home when you did that? When you got in? Okay. And where was Brittany? Was she in bed or somewhere else? She was in bed. She was in bed. Okay. And that's around four or five. And then what happens after that?

That's when I was asleep. And that's when Brittany woke me up and said, babe, you know, we gotta find her. And I'm like, what happened? What's going on? And I think Maura went away. And then that's when she went outside and started looking.

Now, like you just heard, Celeste said that she was at her grandmother's house that night. But at some point in the interview, she stated that her and her grandma had an estranged relationship due to Celeste being a lesbian, which is strange because she said she was at her house all that night. Detectives also wanted information on Celeste's sister, the one who picked her up that night. But Celeste told them that she didn't have her sister's phone number and that they only communicated via Instagram.

What were you doing at your grandma's house? What I'm doing at my grandparents house? Yeah, like four or five hours at one o'clock in the morning.

Well, to my knowledge, she didn't even want to, I guess she wanted to go out. I didn't care. She was just like, "I need you for a few hours." And then those two hours turned to three hours. And then I was just mainly waiting on her. So I think she went out and partied. I'm not sure. Sometimes she has on her work clothes, then she'll change it and go party. So she'll tell me one thing. Yeah, I went with her to my grandma's house. So did you just hang out with grandma or how'd that work? It's my grandma, my aunt, my niece, my nephew.

They, my cousin, they're all stays in the house. So it's like six people, dad, aunt, niece. - So what'd you do while you were there? - While I was there? - Yeah. - Just really just communicate with my niece and nephews. - So you just hung out with your niece and nephews all night? - I was downstairs 'cause it's a three level house. - Did your sister just drop you off and then leave? - Mm-hmm. - And then just came back when she was gone? - When she felt like it. - Doing whatever she was doing and brought you back? - Yeah.

Because normally when I watch... So y'all don't even hang out? Me and my sister, we have a love-hate relationship, but that's my world. I mean, it's just doing for my nieces and nephews. So if I haven't seen them for a long time, I don't mind. And sometimes she pays me, and sometimes she... I don't mind. But we really hang out. But communicating with my grandmother, it's not really like that. It's more like, hey, how you been? And that's really it.

From the moment Detective Conway and Officer Sorenson questioned her, Celeste's story was all over the place. Unsure about timelines, inconsistent, and riddled with lies. But Detective Conway stated that the only thing they wanted to know was what happened to Amari Hall.

So here's the deal, we just want to find the kid. We don't care whatever your lifestyle is, we don't judge, we don't care. You could tell me that you're a drug lord for some Columbia cartel, I don't care. I want to find the eight year old kid, that's it. So the reason we're asking you all these questions and we're trying to get specific every detail, it's not because we're like, ooh, what's Celeste doing? It's because we're trying to figure out at some point,

This child has gone missing and the best way for us to figure that out, even if it seems doesn't doesn't make sense. Like, why are they asking this? What's this have to do with that? Even if it seems crazy, we got to get an accent. But we we don't care about it. We just we want to know every specific detail for for every moment that you went through in the last year.

Yeah. Like 72 hours. Yeah. And we want to know the same thing about your girlfriend and we want to know so that way we can put everything together and be like, well, okay, well, if Celeste was here, here, here, and here, and here, that's what she was doing. So we know that she's not involved in this or whatever. And we know that this and that's going on. And then we can figure out what your girlfriend's doing from A, B, C, D, A, F, G, whatever. Right. And then we can put everything together and we can figure out, okay, so where's the eight-year-old? What's going on? But in order for us to build this crazy picture to be able to try to figure that out, we got to know everything. So, I mean...

God knows, whatever you want to do, if you want to go meet up with another girlfriend or you went over to this house to go buy a pony, I don't care. We want to know where you went and why you went there. That way we can kind of understand what everybody's doing during these crucial hours where this child's gone missing just so that if we come back later and something crazy happens or whatever, we can say, okay, well, this makes sense because she was over here and this is what's going on. We just want to piece all that together.

So I get grandma might have problems with your lifestyle. We don't have any problems with your lifestyle. We don't care. Okay? That's you. You do you. Okay? Okay. That's fine. We just... Right now, we're just trying to figure out where everybody was. Okay? That's it. All right? We don't care what you're involved in, what you're not involved in. We don't care about your lifestyle. Okay?

- You do you, okay? But we do need for these few hours to know exactly what happened, who you hung out with, where you were. That way we can verify all that information and we can put the puzzle pieces together and we can try to figure out where this kid is going. - At this point in the interview, detectives ask Celeste what she believes happened to Amari. And immediately she starts talking about Amari's behavioral issues, something that her grandmother Barbara said was completely fabricated. - And with all that said, what do you think happened with Nicole?

I'm going to tell you from my personal experience. So when I first came around here, which was two years ago when I got back with Brittany, because we were together before, but before she had kids and then we separated and then we came back together. My one-on-one relationship with her was

She was a sweet child, but the only thing was her behavioral problems. Like, when she didn't get her way, she would literally, like, punch herself. And it's like, "Maura, why are you doing it?" 'Cause I first noticed it when Brittany had left and went to go grocery shopping. We were staying in Robin Landon in Decatur a long time ago. And, um...

That's when I was like, you know, I came to a person and said, Brittany, you know, when I told her no for something, she hit herself in the face. And she was like, you know, just bear with me. You know, I'm getting her help because she was going through speech therapy. She did have two therapists for her speech and to help, you know, with her.

And that's my, from the first time I seen Maury. And then that's when I noticed every time Brittany would tell her, "Go wash the dishes," or, "Go take a bath," she'll stomp or she'll scream to the top of her lungs or she'll kick because it's something she don't want to do at the moment.

So it was like my main relationship was with her was like, "Hey Maureen, how you doing?" You know, typically with a child, "Are you okay today?" And sometimes she don't respond to me and sometimes she don't, but she really don't respond to strangers. And before that incident happened, all I know was, um, Renee told me that Maureen had an attitude and I said, "Why she got an attitude?" And she was like, "I don't want to talk about it. She always had an attitude."

And then that's when I left it alone. I was like, okay, when Maura's mad, she don't like to be talked to. So I don't talk to her when she's mad. I try to calm her down and try to buy her things that she likes. But...

Sometimes there's no... So what do you think happened last night? What I think? I think Maura probably got super mad. Like, it could be a thousand reasons. I really don't know what goes through... I'm not the mother. Okay. So I really don't know what goes through this girl's mind. I'm still learning her. So it's like, I mean, it's just been two years. So I'm still learning her. And...

and still getting her to accept me because she does realize it was just her in her moment. Now I came into the picture. So I don't know if it's probably was different for her. Like who is this person and trying to understand who I was. - Does she try to get into it with you when she gets upset? - No, she just told me, leave me alone. And I'm like, leave me alone. And then when she's done, probably an hour later, she'll probably come back and be like,

i apologize and i'm like you know it's okay it's okay it's okay and then she'll go walk off and then it'll be something else that she's not about but after over these two years it just slowly progressed so i would say like this week was like totally different with me and ward because she two weeks ago started her cycle so i don't know if that's

a part of it, considering the fact that she's autism and female has to have a cycle. So I'm not sure. - So she's been a little more upset this week? - But I know this week she was more minimal speaking. - Oh, okay. - Normally she'll ask how you're doing. - Let's talk about that. - Yeah, normally she'll ask how you're doing or hey dad or... - So what do you... - Later she just wake up, go to the restroom, lay down and don't wanna be bothered by her sister's birth, nobody. - So what do you think happened later? - I really think she just, God forbid, but I really think that

So according to Celeste, Amore likely got angry and left the hotel room, then somewhere along the way, she could have been kidnapped. Celeste admitted that Amore didn't have a history of running away, but there was an incident at Flat Shoals Elementary School where Amore got angry and left the classroom.

Now, had she ever run away before? Never. Ever had any type of thing that would make you want to run away? Well, the one time she was at school and then Brittany had to go up there because the teacher said that she had, well, she said the teacher had told her she couldn't do something.

And like I said, when you tell them we're no, she really doesn't like it. She's not your typical, when you tell the child no. - So what'd she do at the school? - The school, she literally stood there and pissed on herself. - But she didn't try to like leave the school or anything? She just got- - She walked out the class and just went, but was still in the school, but was like down the hall. - Down the hall. - But she walked out the class.

By now, both Detective Conaway and Officer Sorensen were highly skeptical of Celeste's version of events. She continued to say that on the morning of Amari's disappearance, Brittany had frantically searched the parking lot and the surrounding areas of the hotel. But like we mentioned, investigators had watched the surveillance footage and there was no sign of Brittany outside of the room.

at all. When confronted with this, Celeste acted shocked and confused. According to her, Brittany had searched for Amari before dialing 911.

So she wakes you up, she calls 911 as she's waking you up, you said, and then she goes outside and she went and checked the whole parking lot. Okay, so that was one thing I wanted to touch on too. So we've checked several cameras. There's a camera for the hotel, there's the car wash across the street, there's a bocce, there's another camera. We've checked all those cameras. We have people checking those cameras right now. They never saw her walking around that hotel. Really? This morning? Mm-hmm.

so any reason why why that's not happening i don't know i honestly don't see is there anything that happened i mean if an accident or something she went out looking around and she came back because when she went out she told me she walked around though she's like yeah i'm looking i'm looking around now did you see her going walking around i only saw her go down the steps and go down the side and by that time she's already on the phone when i

In a desperate attempt to mislead investigators, Celeste then mentioned a mysterious man behind the hotel that was trying to lure children to a box. According to Celeste, Brittany had learned from a neighbor whom she described as a crackhead, that the man was in a black vehicle and he was acting extremely suspicious.

And then we standing outside a neighbor, I'm assuming she was a neighbor, came up to Brittany and me and then she said it was some guy in a black vehicle with a box. And there was 10 or 12 kids playing behind there and he was trying to tell them to

come, I guess, towards the block. I don't know. So, I don't know if there's a neighbor mentioned there was a guy in a black car in the back that had a brown box in the passenger seat and was trying to lure kids in. Which neighbor? Honestly, she looks like a crackhead. Honestly. And they said the brown box was the passenger seat? I was assuming she was living there because she came on that level or she was just trying to be nosy because it was police everywhere. He was trying to lure kids? Yeah, he was trying to, she said, lure them in.

What did this lady look like? She was a white female and she had, I want to say pink nails and pink toes with a gray hoodie and blonde hair coming in front with like red pimples on the sides of her face. Okay, so pink nails, pink toes, you said gray hoodie, red hoodie? Gray hoodie. Gray hoodie, blonde hair, and then you said red pimples? Mm-hmm, on the side of her face.

- But you just saw her coming down on the bottom level? - I didn't even see her come out. She was talking to Brittany at first. And then that's when Brittany came in because she was on the phone. And then that's when I stepped out there. And then that's when she was telling me about her autistic boy that went missing. - Now, this blonde lady, have you ever seen her before? - I've never seen her before. - So that's the first time you ever seen that person? - That's my first time.

Did you see where she went off to after she talked to you? No. No? I did not. And she said-- She got a phone call again, and I stepped in because I was like, this lady's crazy. Now, did she describe the guy that was in the car? She said he was a black man with a beard.

And that's the most I got from him. And I said, what happened? Like, did somebody alert or something like that? She said, somebody screamed out. And by that time he pulled off. - Does she remember around what time that was? - No, I didn't. - She didn't tell you? - I didn't answer that. - She didn't say like last night, this morning, yesterday, last week? - She probably told Brittany more than I did. - She probably, okay. - Yeah. - But she was talking, she did talk to Brittany? - She was talking to Brittany. - Okay.

Next, detectives want to know about Brittany and Celeste's parenting methods, specifically if they physically punished Amari when she acted out, but Celeste was adamant that they never did that, although cell phone recordings would later prove this was a lie. So, using a common interrogation tactic, Detective Conway asked if perhaps there had been an accident on the night Amari disappeared. They wanted Celeste to provide more information while also giving her an option to minimize her involvement.

- Now, has anything ever happened? Like, was there any type of accident or anything that happened with Nicole? Like, did something happen? Was there an accident? Is that... - Like, you mean her whole life? - Like, last night? - Like, last night. Literally, like, all I know was, Moore was mad.

And when you're trying to calm it down and it don't work, you have to let it. Has it ever gotten physical between Maura and you or Maura's mom? Oh, never got physical. No? Never got physical. Well, Maura, she will get physical to herself. To herself. Now, another thing I do have to ask is, on the side that something else might have happened, is there any reason something else might have happened? Like maybe Maura got hurt and there was an accident and we're just afraid to talk about it or something like that?

- Yeah, sometimes she is like that. You'll ask her what's wrong. - I mean, I'm talking like last night. Did something happen to her to where she got hurt real bad? And we're coming up with this story to try to, to try to,

Get away from that because we're worried that like with the police might out there and think something else happened and we're gonna get trouble like something like that Because it because it's an accident happen and say like she fell she got upset. She hurt herself or something Maybe she fell down the stairs. Maybe She back talked to you or back talk to mom or something and it got physical or something Something happened to where she got hurt real bad and we're just trying to be like well We don't know do some say she ran away because we want to get trouble if something like that happened We do we would want to know about that because if it was an accident was an accident

- Accident, sure. - Okay, did something like that happen? - No, but I wouldn't call it the only major argument that I ever witnessed between those two, Brittany and Nicole, the only major one was when she peed on herself and shitted on herself on purpose because I guess she wanted a different attention. I really don't know. I'm still figuring out more about that. - Was that at school? - No. - Was that the one at school? - No, that was like recently here at the hotel. - Okay.

Do you think something could have happened to her and mom might have tried to cover her up because she might be scared or something? Well, I do remember the first time, from what I know, I do remember from the first time when I met Maureen and stuff like that, she had said that somebody was touching her.

And Brittany took that very seriously. No, but what I'm getting at is like, do you think there's a possibility that while you were gone, that something could have happened to Moore that hurt her or worse? While I was gone? While you were gone and Brittany is trying to cover it up because she's worried about she might get in trouble from something that happened. We would fight for our kids. So she would never hurt me?

- No, never. - If something were to happen to her, like say she fell down the stairs or something and she realized that she was not okay and wasn't gonna get better, do you think she would still call us or do you think she would get worried that she might get in trouble 'cause somebody might put the blame on her or something like that? - Well, at first she thought Lori was hitting herself

Sometimes Maury would leave a mark here or a bruise here and she would fear, you know, sometimes like going to the hospital for it. And I'm like, you know, put ice on it. I told her, I said, put ice on it because if it don't go down then, you know, take her to the hospital. And she was like, I don't want them to think that I'm abusing my child and they try to take her away. And I'm like, they're not, but you do have to say something. So I believe she would definitely say something. She would call. Okay. Yeah.

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At this point, investigators stepped out of the interrogation room to speak with Brittany, who was being held in room one. They also used this opportunity to speak with Brittany's two other children, Zaire and Jakari. About an hour later, they returned to Celeste's room

and revealed that one of the children had made a shocking statement. Six-year-old Zaire told investigators that Celeste physically removed Amari from the hotel room on the night in question and said that she was taking her to the bad kids hospital. But Celeste tried to play off the bad kids hospital as a statement she often made when Amari was misbehaving. Is there...

any reason why is it Zaire am I saying it right? Zaire. Is there any reason why Zaire would say dad took her sister to the back row hospital? To the back row hospital? Oh she's saying that because when Maury would act out I'll say Maury listen if you can't listen to us you're gonna go can't say defects can

I can't say none of that stuff. I said, "Moria, if you can't play with your sisters or you can't negotiate, you're going to go to this place." And normally when we say that, Moria act right for at least three hours. - Now you say this place, what is this place? Do you refer to it as this place or do you call it? - Yeah, this place. - Okay, is there any reason why she would call it a back row hospital? - Back row, yeah. - Okay, a back row hospital. - Mainly back row, yeah. - Okay. Now is there any reason-- - That helped her calm down.

for at least a certain amount of hours if she's screaming or throwing a temper tantrum. Because neighbors don't want to hear it. The neighbors think otherwise and the neighbors get involved like today. So why would Zaire say that she saw you take Nicole last night?

She's something she didn't say that you took her last night and that she's not coming back. I didn't take her last night. I don't know why she would say that. So you just you think she's just making it up or what? Probably so. Why would I take Nicole? There's a lot of stuff that's not making sense to us. Okay.

Mom's saying she went and looked all around the place and around the hotel. We have officers that have reviewed all the video camera footage, not just from the hotel, but from buildings that are around the hotel that can also see the hotel. So if I were to go walk all around the hotel and hit up all those spots that mom said she went to and that you said mom went to, and then I watch that video camera footage, I'm going to see me walking around, right? Now, we didn't see her walking around. We didn't see any of that. So that didn't happen.

Okay, we know that didn't happen. There's no dispute about it because the video evidence shows that that did not happen. Okay? Me walking out with Nicole? I'm talking about mom walking around the hotel. Walking around the hotel. Yeah. Because when she got back, she told me she started walking but called the police because she was outside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, she told us she walked through the parking lot. She did all this other stuff. And that didn't happen because it's on camera. So we can definitively prove based on camera video evidence, it didn't happen. Okay. Okay? Um...

When we first got into the story with you about where we're going and all that and everything, we had officers go to the BP and they gathered every single receipt for the entire day and evening. We got some issues there too. Okay. Okay? So between the two of you guys, there's stuff that's not ending up and there's stuff that's being said that happened that didn't happen. We want to know where Nicole is. It's not an if we find Nicole. I want to know where Nicole is. It's a when we find Nicole. We're going to find her.

If it's within the next couple hours, within the next couple days, we're going to find her. Okay? It's just a matter of when. We know something happened. We know she's somewhere. And I think that you know where she is.

Detective Conway and Officer Sorensen believed that Celeste knew more than what she was telling them. They told her that they were going to get a search warrant to check her phone to see if her timeline of events matched what was in her phone. Lyft rides, her sister calling to babysit, and her exact movements and locations on the night Amari disappeared, and it's here where Celeste started to get defensive, which

which only raised more red flags for investigators. Detective Conway then explained that it was their job to investigate every lead and statement, even if the statement came from a six-year-old child. -So I'm not trying to come off? -She always hears me say, "I'm taking more somewhere," or, "Take her for a walk," or, "Step outside with me if I feel like she's doing too much." So that really hurts me that she interpreted that way from her, 'cause I know, like, she wouldn't try to --

I wouldn't purposely take her out and then call you to say she's missing. Like I just said, it's nothing against you, nothing that I have against you or anything. I'm just trying to do my job. We're all tired, trust me. I've been up early. I have little kids. They wake me up at 5 in the morning, you know.

I know you've been up for a late period of time too. We just want, we got to get to the bottom side to explore everything. Okay. I don't mean any offense by it. Okay. I'd like to continue talking to you about this. If you haven't committed any crimes or anything, then there's no need to get a lawyer involved. All that does is make things take a bit longer. And the longer it takes, the more likely that you could be in trouble. Today, you guys would not be questioning me if I wasn't in the room. So it's like they ain't calling 9-1-4, but I feel like I'm being interrogated.

So it's like it's just how you're going. We got this is this is just what we got to do We got to talk to I've been in this predicament before when someone murdered my mother and they didn't come at me like this when they sat me down They just let me write everything and they just went off that but it's like it's just I'm just being real with you It's like how you come in? I think you know where she is. It's like if you think I know what are you trying to get me to say and

I'm not trying to get you to say anything. I just want to know what you know. And if you're hiding anything from me, I'd like to know that. I'm not hiding anything. You're guys the cops. I'm not the cop. I understand that. And my job is to explore these. It's like the fact that you even said you haven't seen Nicole outside. It's like, what camera are you looking at? I'm not talking about Nicole. I'm talking about Brittany. Yeah, Brittany. You haven't seen Brittany outside. It's like, what camera are you looking at? She purposely went outside. Because that's when my neighbor came in.

opened the door and said, "Is everything alright?" And I said, "No." We looked at several cameras. We also, she also described the woman, talked about the guy in the vehicle wearing a completely different description of clothing too. And she described her as having a different hair color also. So that raised some concerns that you both said a little bit that was somewhat similar but was completely different.

and that raises concerns, okay? Because usually in some cases when two people are lying about something and they come up with a story, sometimes they mess stuff up. And I'm not saying that you're liars, I'm not saying that you committed a crime, but I'm saying I have to investigate it to the fullest ability, which part of it does include asking you the hard questions. - Guilty into a crime case. - No, does that mean guilty into a person, anything? No, that's not the case. We've got to explore

the timeline of the events. We have to explore who was around the child the last and the last two people to see her away, to see the child were you and Brittany. So that has to be something we look into whether it's a difficult situation or not. I mean, it's just part of it. Okay. - Nobody on the property has seen her. - Look, we have to do all this. - No, I'm asking a question. - I'm still working on other officers and stuff. As far as my knowledge right now, she was not seen on the camera.

Okay. As far as my knowledge now, we have an officer who just came in with a bunch of receipts that he just spent several hours going through. We have several people working on this. Okay. So we're trying to get everything figured out. Okay. I'd like to continue talking to you about this. I don't.

You know, I don't want to prolong this as much as you don't want to prolong this. The moment we can find the colon we had this over with is the best thing that-- - I'm not detained. - Okay. - Correct. - That's correct. - I'm not detained, so I'm free to go whenever I want to. So the fact that I'm even willing to sit with you and go through this, 'cause I could have been a bonehead and said, "Oh, I'm out."

Which if you did that, then that would not be nice at all. But you wouldn't know me. You have a child. But you wouldn't know me. You see what I'm saying? Okay. Let's get off of that, okay? Because we're not going to sit here and argue that for the next...

We have a kid that we're looking for. We have an eight-year-old child that has autism that we're trying to find that has been missing for several hours and we're concerned about her. And it's getting very cold. And it's only going to get colder tonight. Okay? So the last thing I want is for somebody to call us in three days from now and say, hey, I just found a frozen dead kid in a gutter somewhere. Okay? So I want to know where she is. Is there anything on your phone that's going to lead us to where she is or her whereabouts or anything like that? No. No? I do not have. Do you have any knowledge whatsoever about where Nicole is and what happened to her or anything like that?

From here, detectives would only find more discrepancies within Celeste's story. Receipts at the BP gas station showed no purchases by either Celeste or Brittany when they both said that they had been there that night. And when confronted with this, the investigators also noticed that Celeste and Brittany's stories were similar, but specific details were completely different, almost like they had rehearsed things, but not well enough.

For instance, the description of that crackhead neighbor was different. And so was the man who they claimed was luring children behind the hotel. Investigators knew that they were both somehow involved, but they needed more information. So Detective Conaway once again went over Celeste's timeline from Saturday, November 20th

up until she discovered that Amari was missing. And this is a tactic that detectives use to catch people in lies. They'll get you to tell your story over and over again, asking specific questions about every detail. And when you're telling the truth, recalling those details shouldn't be that hard. However, when you're lying, they

They are. After a few hours of questioning, Celeste was obviously irritated and she continued to argue with them, especially when they brought up the family members that she claimed to have babysat that night. And you said only your nephew was awake when you got there to hang out with, right? Okay. And what's your nephew's name? You told us your niece's journey. You didn't tell us your nephew's name. Well, you want to know. Because I'd like to know who the kid that you met with is. So just be honest with me, right? Because I'm not detained.

So, Beyonce, you're interrogating me because like you said from the initial, I think you know where Nicole is. I'm interrogating you because I need to figure out this information. I'm doing the same thing with mom. I'm talking to everybody. I'd like to know your whereabouts to the fullest extent. That way, if you are involved in the disappearance of the child, we can figure that out. If you aren't, we can also give you a proper event line that explains all that. This was last minute, taking kids out in the cold and then saying, hurry up.

It's ridiculous. Well, this is how we're doing this job and this is what we need to do. Okay? So what's the name of your nephew? Jacob. Jacob, thank you. The only reason things are in a hurry is because it's a busy kid. No, it's the difference between the hurry. Don't get it wrong. Like...

oh, do all the research you want to do. Go find, go dig, go do whatever. And part of that is talking to you. Yeah. And part of that is getting all this information in as much detail as we can. Like I said, I've been in this predicament before, and I never sat with a guy like this. Well, I don't know what other predicaments you've been in, and honestly, that has nothing to do with this exact scenario. Okay? And in this exact scenario, there's stuff that's not lining up. In this exact scenario, there's a six-year-old child that's saying that you may have been involved in the disappearance of her sister. So that is something we do have to address.

I'm not going to get into the antics of it. She made a statement, and we have to address it.

Now, the fact that Zier said that "Dad" took Amore out of the room that night was of huge importance to investigators. Kids don't lie about that kind of stuff. But detectives also couldn't help but notice when talking to the children that they had bruises covering their bodies. Celeste tried to explain away the physical signs of abuse by saying that Amore and Zier often got into fights.

The little girl said that you were involved, so we need to address that. We need to see if there was any type of involvement. Okay, why would she say that she's afraid of you? Why would she say that you have a gun and that you would threaten her? Why would she say that you took Nicole?

I don't know why she said that. You would have to ask her that. So you're just saying she's just making it up? No, I'm not making that up. But they do, they don't like when I get mad. But I don't get mad to the point where it's like threats and stuff like that. Has it ever gotten visible? No, I never got to see it. Is there any reason why there's bruises on the children?

Right now we're asking you. You're around them just as much. Because you also live there. You've lived there for the two to three months since they've been there. You said somebody's always home with the kids. You're home with the kids and Brittany's not home with the kids. So we have to ask both of you because it could have happened between the both of you. We're going to talk to the kids too. We're getting that information as well. So I'd like to know, do you know about the bruises that are on Saria? Yeah, I know about Zaire because sometimes if some, well, Brittany doesn't want

Maury and Zaire work hard to be around each other because Maury and Zaire wants touch card. And since he's autistic, he doesn't know like

this isn't right, this isn't this. So sometimes when I catch her doing it, I leave her licking. And then some of the times it's like, it's self-involved, like some of the stuff she fought fell off the bed. - So when's the last time she got licking? - Was I here? I couldn't tell you. - Was it within the last couple weeks? - I couldn't tell you. - No?

Yeah, because earlier, I think earlier, is it common to use corporal punishment? The licking? What's your, when you say licking, can you describe what you mean? It's literally on the head and pops on the head. Pops on the head, okay. Well, that's, well, she's got bruises, what, on her back? She's got bruises on her back, her eyes, her face. I mean, that's not a slap on the wrist. Do you know how those were caused? I really don't. You don't? I'm here, and then I'm there, and when I question, it's like,

- You don't wanna know what she did. - Do you think mom might be putting those prunes on her? - No, I don't think so. - No? - 'Cause if it was, I would've told Brittany to chill. - Has she ever used spankings or anything like that?

Like different objects? No, just like spanking, just like with her hands. Like spanking, she'll probably pop her butt, but never to that extent. Never to that, nothing to cause any type of injury or anything like that? Yeah, like the level of degree that things that get when Maury's around is intense because Zyra and Maury would have back-to-back altercations. And if we go to you about it, like now,

we would have been the ones, "Oh, you're doing it." So it's like separate. And I think that's what really got to Moore because we just had to separate each and every one of them because there was too much going on that wasn't normal for kids. So they would fight a lot. They would fight a lot. Zaire and Moore would fight each other. How intense were their fights? It's times where

Bring you to go to the bathroom and then all of a sudden you'll see more yanking her hair or it's always something. I'll say like out of seven days a week, probably at least five or more jumping off the bed, it's thumping or it's always something.

At this point in the interview, detectives bring up something extremely disturbing. During their talk with Amari's sister Zaire, she mentioned that Celeste would often use a napkin to put the kids to sleep. But when they bring this up to Celeste, she plays dumb and says that the little girl is lying. She also changes the subject

and says that Amari and Zaire are very difficult children who fight all the time. But Celeste said that they never addressed the fights professionally because they believed that they would be falsely targeted for abusing the children when it was really just them fighting. But it was clear to detectives when they spoke to Zaire that she was very afraid of Celeste. The little girl said that she would often brandish her gun and threaten the kids when she was upset, that she would hit them when they misbehaved.

♪

But of course, Celeste denied all of this. And from this point forward, it was very clear that she was no longer willing to cooperate with investigators. When detectives asked if they could look through her cell phone, she told them no. Obviously, there were secrets inside. Secrets that she didn't want investigators to know about. But eventually, they would get access to her cell phone. And as soon as she handed it over, Celeste began to grow even more angry.

All I'm saying is, just to clear things, I am discombobulated. I cannot give you exact times. If you feel like I wanted to BP that time, run the camera back to the BP where you saw me with this hat. Or my dad. Run it back to there. But it's like, I cannot sit here. How you approach people to try to get somebody...

You don't approach people like that to try to get something out of someone because you think so. Then why would a little girl just, why would a little girl? I'm telling you everything that's going on. And then when we come for help, we don't really get help. That's why a lot of people do things and just don't call the cops and handle it their own way. Because it can flip, just like what it did today. Like my dad always told me, anything can flip with cops.

So it just pisses me off because I've been out all day, I've been answering you respectfully all morning. Respectfully all morning. Then I get here and I'm in the room that I've never been in before that I've seen on First 48. And being chastised with questions trying to make me, I think you did it. As soon as he said that, it broke me to the core. Because if I did, I damn sure wouldn't be in that hotel. I would be gone on the run.

Yeah, no. Like I said, you stuck around. I stuck around and I'm talking. He's telling me, my daughter, I'll be here. Dude, that's you. But I know with me, when the police said they look, okay, I'm going to look too. I'm not going to be here all night long.

answering the same questions, not on new questions, these same questions. And oh, it's not adding up with Brittany. At the end of the day, that's Brittany's daughter. I'm just, I'm not even the real biological father. None of me is on paper with them, with those kids. They don't have my last name, nothing. So why should my...

My thing was just be ran through where you've been here. Why you've been driving here? Why was this over here? Why was that over? I'm not going to keep answering that. I'm not a cop. If I wanted to be one, I would have been wearing that badge easily. I have no record. Easy to become a cop. I know it is. I know you guys ran me. I'm clean. There's nothing on me.

I'm a good citizen and I'm not gonna sit up here and open the door and let my fucking girlfriend daughter run out. I'm not gonna do that. Now I'm gonna take better protocols and get a camera for my kids.

Yeah.

Right.

If you guys asked us, but you guys kept coming in, kept coming in, which you know you gotta have a warrant to come in anyway, but we opened the door and let you come in. So it's like, just have some respect for us. It's like, come on, we wouldn't be calling you for help if we, I would have just got away with it. If that was the case, but no, we called for help. I said, babe, yes, do the right thing. I was just as mad as her. We both were crying, breaking down. I said, babe, let's pull it together because Zaire doesn't like to see us crying.

Then he asked questions and he wanted to know how I'm gonna explain that to my father-in-law, someone who's autistic. It was really, he's too in the mind. So it's too much. And they're gonna ask about this all night. - Last time you went to your grandma's house, I'm not even worried about that. - I don't know. I don't know. That's my final answer. I don't know. That's my final answer. No, I don't know.

Because my family is not involved in this. They don't even know their names. None of their names. They don't know them. I don't communicate with my family like the only people I deal with is my niece and nephew. And that's why I told you it was the mother of them is Diamond Alexis' sister. That's my sister. They're the only people I deal with. But I'm not going to get them involved in something and I'm asking for help and y'all reaching out to people in my family that really don't give a two shits about Brittany. They don't.

So I just want to get our stuff and we go. And if you guys can, you know, keep looking. Okay, keep looking. We never said stop. Hell, we're going to figure out stuff too because she has police in her family. So I'm quite sure she's going to reach out to them too. We're not just going to sit back and let this ride. No, that's not us. But I'm trying to be the strongest now because I don't want my kids to see that I'm weak. I'm a very strong woman. If I do something, I'm going to tell you.

I'm not going to sit up here and open the door and let my child run out. I'm not that person at all. And if you guys want to go in there and ask neighbor after neighbor after neighbor after neighbor, then go ask each neighbor. Because I wouldn't open no goddamn door for no eight-year-old to run out there and I know she got a business with this. I wouldn't fucking do it.

But I thought I could trust you guys, but we've been chastised for no reason. And it's not right. Because if I didn't want your help, we wouldn't have called you. We would have said we'll figure out together. This is my first time ever encountering dealing with a police. I have nothing on my record. Nothing. I'm 29 years old. Nothing. So why am I, oh, I think you did it. Bruh, go pull up my record. There's nothing on there.

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The investigators were very patient with Celeste. They let her ramble on about her innocence for hours. But the one thing they kept coming back to was her whereabouts that night. Celeste's story about her babysitting her nieces and nephews was a flat-out lie. In fact, investigators spoke to her family, and they claimed that they hadn't seen Celeste in months. So, they confront her about this.

I was just asking, why would you be so adamant? Again, because you want to keep your family out of this. But you want, but you were so adamant to be like, my sister came and picked me up after she came back with the snacks and went to bed. This way the kids aren't alone. Your sister came and picked you up.

But she does her own thing. But she don't care if your sister says, hey, I'm going to pick you up or something. It's your sister. You do whatever she says. Sometimes she comes through and she says, hey. Sometimes she doesn't come up. Like, asking me that don't matter. Like, why does that matter when a child is missing? Why does it matter when I'm getting picked up? Why would you tell us that you went to this house and spoke to your nephew for four hours and your sister brought back when we know that didn't happen? Because I came back and it didn't happen.

because i came back so we've spoken to us about it but i'm saying the fact that you're trying to your dad everybody and nobody's seen you in months your nephew your dad i'll be seeing you in months your sister would say nobody's going to tell you because they know you're a cop that's what i'm telling you my sister's on p.o she's not going to talk to you

But she didn't talk to us. But my sister's on PO. She's not going to give you what you want to hear. That's what I'm saying. I said you can't run off that. Why would she lie about it? I don't know. That would actually be worse for her. That would be worse for her to lie about it. You see what I'm saying? Dude.

It just doesn't make sense. It don't make sense that you're calling my family to get involved. It is. Look, if a kid goes missing overnight, and then you go somewhere overnight and bring in these people, and these people go, I had never seen you. Well, now we have a kid going missing overnight, and we have you going missing overnight.

At this point in the interview, Celeste tries to leave, but investigators quickly tell her that she isn't allowed to leave. Now they don't have enough evidence to place her under arrest for Amari's disappearance, but they do have proof that she lied to investigators. So from here, she's arrested for making a false statement and she's taken to the Gwinnett County Jail. Meanwhile, investigators took pictures of Jakari and Zaire's injuries that were visible once they arrived at the Sheriff's Department.

Officer Sorensen later said that when they first encountered the children at the hotel room, both had been under blankets. And then even during transport, Celeste and Brittany had them wrapped in blankets in an attempt to hide their injuries. Shockingly, when the blankets were removed,

Both children had bruises, scabs and cuts all over their legs, arms, backs, and even on their faces. Now, throughout the time they were at the police station, both Zaire and Jakari complained that they were hungry. Investigators would later admit that both of the children's bellies were distended,

which indicated that they were extremely malnourished. But while at the police station, the children were fed Papa John's pizza. But due to their significant injuries, the children were not allowed to go back in the custody of their mom. Instead, they were taken into state custody.

Now, interestingly, there isn't a lot of information about Brittany Hall and what was happening with her during this time But by Monday, November 22nd, there were still no signs of Amori Hall For days, investigators had been searching for the 8-year-old girl with no luck And by 10:15, they had to call off the search until the following day However, this time, they issued a statement saying that they believed Amori was in danger

Also breaking for you right now, the search continues for that missing eight-year-old girl in Gwinnett County who police say is in danger tonight. This is the second cold night that Amari Hall from Peachtree Corners has been away from her home, away from her mother. John Sherrick is live for us tonight from outside the Mother's Extended Stay Hotel. John.

Gwinnett County Police have suspended their search for Amari until daybreak, although the investigation into her disappearance continues. Her mother reported her missing Sunday morning from the hometown studios hotel here on Jimmy Carter at Peachtree Industrial.

Gwinnett County Police conducting a grid search of these woods between the hotel where Amari lives with her mother and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Searching into the night, 8-year-old Nicole Amari Hall, who goes by Amari and who has autism, reported missing by her mother Sunday morning. The mother told police that she, the mother, fell asleep sometime after midnight Sunday morning, and then Amari was gone from their room when the mother woke up

around 9 a.m. We are working every lead and we are looking at every angle. Gwinnett County Police Sergeant Jennifer Richter says the mother and Amari moved to the hotel a couple of months ago and have no relatives living nearby. So there's nowhere the mother can imagine Amari going. Amari needs daily medication. Among the searchers, volunteers from Alpha Team Canine Search and Rescue and Gary Bonneau, who have a track record of

of finding missing people. Whether it's an Alzheimer's patient, a lost child, a drowning victim, there's many scenarios that we get involved with trying to help and we've been successful at. Amari wears eyeglasses and may be wearing rainbow light-up shoes. Gwinnett County Police are saying that it is more urgent by the hour that someone find her soon and they're hoping everyone involved in this investigation is hoping that someone will spot her soon and call 911. Jennifer.

All right, John, hoping for a safe, quick recovery. Thank you so much. Back at the Gwinnett County Police Department, Celeste's cell phone was in the process of being searched. According to Officer Sorenson, it took a few hours to extract the data. But by the morning of Monday, November 22nd, around 9 a.m., they had uncovered some videos that disturbed them to their core. It was footage of all three of Brittany's children, a

Amori, Zaire, and Jakari being subjected to cruel physical and mental abuse. The dates of the abuse range from July 20th, 2021 to August 9th, 2021. We're going to play some of the audio that they found from the videos on Celeste's phone. And they're a little hard to hear, but trigger warning, you will hear the sounds of the children being physically abused. I know it's not for the children.

He's gonna get smacked. First of all, he's gonna get smacked now. I don't know who he's looking at. Hey, I'm just gonna handle it. Stop looking. Do you understand me? Keep your eyes to yourself. Do you understand? Stop looking. Stop looking. You stupid. Stop moving. You stop here. I'm standing right here. He gets the point. Turn it over with him.

And they said, "Shit, sweep your ass, bitch." What is it? And all in front of the toilet. So as you walk out, you get up here on the floor. Turn around and put your hands up. I said, "Swallow the food first, then take another bite." 'Cause she dropped it and I should tell her to. And tried to scoop it off the carpet with a spoon. Then I said, "Stop." She stopped and bought me a china to try to keep going. She keep going after I said stop. So I was like, "What's he saying?" I threw the phone.

So they don't bust in my mouth, no more karma.

In these absolutely horrific videos, Jakari was shown on the floor as his mother Brittany walked past him and said "You're stupid as fuck" before hitting him 11 times on the back. Another video showed Jakari blindfolded on the floor and Celeste walked up to him, tightening the cloth around his eyes, and proceeded to slap him across the face and kick him while he was on the ground. Another video showed one of the young girls getting slapped across the face with such force that her head was knocked sideways.

After reviewing the shocking footage taken from Celeste's cell phone, investigators located Brittany Hall and she was also arrested and booked at the Gwinnett County Jail on child cruelty charges. - Now, even before finding these videos,

Investigators had a sinking feeling that Amari was no longer alive. But after watching the horrific abuse found on Celeste's phone, they were more sure than ever that Amari was dead. And sadly, they were right. On Tuesday, November 23rd, 2021, at around 10.45 a.m., the search for Amari Hall came to an end.

Tragically, her naked body was discovered inside of a white trash bag in a wooded area near the Stone Mill Trace neighborhood in DeKalb County. Crime scene investigation supervisor, Key Jimenez, was immediately called out to the scene to assist the two detectives.

Yes, so on Stone Mill Drive, the natural area or wooded area to the left-hand side of the roadway near the concrete blockades, there was approximately 11 feet off of the curb. There was a fallen tree in that natural area and there was also a fair amount of construction debris. It looked similar to a dump site.

But the construction debris was leaned over the fallen tree, so you couldn't really see the area where the body was located from the actual road because the construction debris covered it. So the deceased was located in a kind of a depression in the ground, not necessarily something dug out, just a depression in the ground right behind that fallen tree and construction debris.

Amari's body had been concealed by three trash bags. One trash bag over the top of her head, down to her abdomen. Another covered up her legs, towards her hips. And the last one had been used to wrap around the remainder of her torso, and they were all secured with a long black rope. You could still see her body through some of the trash bags. She wasn't fully covered.

She did have lacerations on her arms, her left eye, yes, her left eye was missing from the skull itself, and she did have fairly significant skin slippage, which is where the skin begins to separate from the muscle and tissue underneath.

The trash bag that covered the top portion of Amari's body was ripped upon discovery. Key explained that the rip was consistent with animal activity. But upon finding Amari's remains, investigators were heartbroken. This was not the outcome that anyone wanted, but it sadly was the outcome that they had suspected from the very beginning. So following the discovery, police chief J.D. McClure updated the community in a press conference at 1 p.m.,

We compared statements that we had gotten from Brittany Hall and also her partner, Celeste Owen. We compared those statements with evidence that we gathered and recognized that those statements were indeed false. At that point, our investigation transitioned from a missing person case to indeed a homicide case.

I'm deeply sad to report to you that at 10:45 this morning, the body of Omari Hall was discovered in the area of Stone Mile Trace, correction, Stone Mill Trace in DeKalb County near the Stone Mountain Freeway. Within the next several hours, we will charge Celeste Owen with felony murder in connection with the death of Omari Hall.

Additionally, Brittany Hall will be charged with concealing the death of another. We will continue to also investigate her role in this murder. My heart goes out to the extended family of Amari Hall.

We worked diligently on this case. The investigators from our uniformed patrol officers who went out and searched the area, we worked extremely hard and unfortunately these were not the results that we had hoped for. But that being said, we are happy to bring these individuals to justice.

And I'd like to once again to thank the officers here. I'd also like to thank the residents at the hometown studios who were very helpful in our investigation as we searched door to door for Amari.

People suspected that Celeste Owens was the one who killed Amari and that Brittany Hall, Amari's mother, helped her conceal the crime. Now, Celeste, who was in police custody, was now facing 11 cruelty to children charges, falsely reporting a crime, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and felony and malice murder. Brittany Hall was now charged with felony child cruelty charges, falsely reporting a crime, and concealing the death of her own daughter.

Both women were held at the Gwinnett County Jail without bond. Following the discovery of Amore Hall, her body was taken to the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office for a complete and thorough autopsy. On the morning of November 24th, Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. James Downs was the physician in charge of determining the cause and manner of death.

Upon review of the child's body, Dr. Downs discovered several blunt force injuries and extreme malnutrition. He determined that Amore's cause of death was battered child syndrome and the manner was homicide. - Battered child syndrome is where a child is beaten on multiple occasions. There are multiple wounds,

multiple locations of these wounds, and multiple stages of healing. So essentially, when a child dies from battered child syndrome, it means they faced beatings over and over again until their body could no longer take it. For Amare's little body, she was covered in bruises, lacerations, and contusions that were all in various stages of healing. Her ankles had wounds that suggested

she had them tied together at one point. And based on how the wounds look, Dr. Downs stated that they happened weeks or even days before her death. In addition, Amari was extremely thin when she was found. Her ribs were poking through her skin, which indicated she was severely malnourished.

and she only weighed 54 pounds. Now Amari was tall for her age, she was 4'10" and according to Dr. Downs, she should have weighed at least 80 pounds, so she was 30 pounds underweight. Dr. Downs also discovered that Amari had almost no muscular development. Her knees were extremely bony, which indicated she was neglected and not fed on a regular basis.

Almost all of the injuries on her body had at one point been an open wound and professionals believe that she had been repeatedly beaten with a long thin type of instrument such as a cord or a plastic hanger. She also had a torn frenulum, a thin piece of tissue that connects the top lip to the gum line. Dr. Downs suggested that this could have been torn

after being repeatedly punched in the face. And these were just the external injuries. During her internal examination, Dr. Downs discovered a large amount of blood and blood clots in her belly. There was bruising to her lungs, several fractured ribs that were in multiple stages of healing. There was a large bruise on the back of her head and a three-inch tear on her liver. Dr. Downs stated that he believed while Amari was lying on the ground, someone wearing boots

had stomped on Amari's liver and crushed it into her spine. He also stated that this injury was likely caused just hours before her death and that she would have been in excruciating pain. For an eight-year-old little girl, she definitely would have been crying

complaining of severe stomach pain, but no one came to help her. Ultimately, Dr. Downs determined that the cause of death was battered child syndrome due to the significant number of blunt force injuries to Omari's body, as well as malnutrition.

After the shocking details emerged of Amore Hall's final hours of life, investigators were hard at work trying to find out the timeline of events in regards to Celeste Owens and Brittany Hall. One of the detectives assigned to go through Celeste's cell phone, Detective Randy Blackburn, discovered concerning searches that were conducted a few days before Amore was reported missing.

On November 19th, 2021, around 4:00 AM, Celeste Google searched "What to do when a child just won't listen." A few minutes later, she searched "What to do when a child doesn't listen." Around noon, Celeste Google searched "lakes in the area." Apparently, investigators also discovered that Celeste deleted her search history prior to giving her cell phone to law enforcement. Other Google searches on November 19th were "How do sewers on the street work?" "Why do kids run away?" "How do I report someone missing?"

Obviously, investigators were interested in why Celeste wanted to access her U-Haul account. They also discovered that on the same day, Celeste's cell phone locator showed that she had visited an A1 storage facility off Lawrenceville Highway.

When investigators arrived at the location, store employees were able to provide a receipt that showed Celeste had rented a U-Haul van on that same date. They also provided call logs that showed Celeste's name and phone number where she had called multiple times to inquire about renting a van.

Ultimately, Celeste rented a van on November 19th at 1:06 PM. She returned the van on the same day at 7:36 PM. The total number of miles driven within the six-hour timeframe was 27. Surveillance footage showed that Celeste showed up at the A1 storage around 12:50 PM via Uber, waited in line for roughly 15 minutes, and then left the location in the U-Haul van at around 1:09 PM.

With the license plate number recorded from the back of the U-Haul van, investigators were able to utilize Flock cameras, which are special cameras that read license plates.

and they were able to determine that from there, Celeste traveled back towards the hometown studios. However, first, she decided to make a quick stop at the Family Dollar, located right across the street from the Extended Stay Hotel. Investigators learned that on November 19th at 1:39 p.m., Celeste purchased a gallon of bleach, blue latex gloves, and a few snacks,

including Powerade, Mountain Dew, and some candy. Her total came out to be $18.50. From there, she got back into the van and drove to the hometown studios, located at 7049 Jimmy Carter Boulevard.

A few hours later, at around 5.52 p.m., the U-Haul van was moved to a closer parking spot near the stairwell by room 251. Celeste had backed the van into the parking spot and at 5.53, the back door of the van was opened and from the cameras, you could see that there was movement

Now the camera view was compromised, but it's safe to assume that it's here where Celeste put Amari's body into the back of the van. Then at 5:58 PM, the van pulled out of the parking lot heading eastbound on Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Flock cameras tracked the location of the van going towards DeKalb County and then ultimately turning around at 7:03 PM. It was then shown traveling towards the direction

of the A1 storage facility. Detective Blackburn indicated that after Brittany Hall was arrested on November 22nd, she provided crucial information as to where Amari's body might be located. She also admitted that she was aware of the abuse by Celeste, downplaying her own involvement, and that she did not go with Celeste to dispose of her daughter's body. Unfortunately, after several hours of extensive searching, they were unable to locate her due to the sun going down.

However, the next morning, November 23rd, they successfully located her body in the same vicinity where Brittany said she might be. And the evidence against Celeste Owen was damning. In fact, the U-Haul tracked that Celeste had traveled 27 miles, which happened to be the exact mileage from the hometown studios to the dump site and then back to the A1 storage facility. Now, investigators did have a cadaver dog named Sierra, who's a blonde Labrador retriever, come sniff the van for any sign of human remains.

but it's believed that the van had been thoroughly cleaned with that bleach that Celeste bought, so the dog wouldn't have been able to sniff out decomposition. However, using Celebrite's software, investigators were able to download and review Celeste's geolocation data on November 19th,

Between 12:41pm and 12:59pm, Celeste's location traveled from the hometown studios to the A1 storage facility, evidence that was backed up with surveillance video and a receipt. And although there was no geolocation between 5:46pm and 7:27pm, flock cameras continued to capture the U-Haul van moving south towards DeKalb County.

According to court records, Celeste arrived in DeKalb County at around 6:35 p.m. and Celeste was also tracked traveling to the same general vicinity where Amore's body would later be discovered. Also, according to cell phone data, Celeste made an outgoing phone call to a number listed under the name "My Lady" at 6:58 p.m. Around 7 p.m., flock cameras were able to capture Celeste and the U-Haul van heading back north away from DeKalb County.

According to investigators, Celeste had triggered specific preference settings on her cell phone during the time her geolocation was untraceable.

Now Celeste Owens would plead not guilty for her trial that was set for December of 2024, but the prosecution had a pretty strong case. When the trial finally commenced a few months back, prosecutor Sabrina Nizam painted a horrible and disturbing picture of what life was like for Brittany Hall's three young children. Sabrina stated that both Celeste and Brittany had a pattern of severe abuse, stating, quote, "Slapping them in the back of the head,

the stomping, the blindfolding, the lying on the ground. They did this together. Their method was together. But she told the jury that on November 19th, 2021,

Two days before Amari was reported missing, it all came to a head. Like we mentioned, Amari had a laceration to her liver, an injury she received after Celeste Owens stomped on her. It's believed that Amari spent hours in the hotel room in excruciating pain, crying and asking for help. But instead of caring for her, Celeste Owens responded to Amari's cries with a blunt force hit.

to her head. And sadly this time, she wouldn't make it. On the floor of the hometown studios, eight-year-old Amari Hall succumbed to her injuries. Her young siblings, Zaire and Jakari were there watching it all unfold. And by that next morning, both Brittany and Celeste noticed that Amari was unresponsive. But instead of calling for help,

they began to think about themselves. They knew that a beaten and dead eight-year-old child would result in prison. So it's here where they started planning their coverup. That day, Celeste Owens rented out that U-Haul. She bought trash bags, gloves, and cleaning products.

And once she had everything she needed, she made her way back to the hometown studios. Inside room 251, she picked up Amari's deceased and battered body and began wrapping her in trash bags, securing it with rope. From there,

She shoved her body into a container, put on the lid, and then threw her into the back of the U-Haul. Along the way to the dump site, Celeste called Amari's mom, Brittany, updating her on what was going on. In the late hours, Celeste discarded Amari's body like trash, deep in the woods in DeKalb County. After returning to the apartment that night, Brittany and Celeste came up with their stories.

They were going to wait until the morning to report Amari missing. They would say that Amari had been having behavioral issues and that she likely ran away on her own. It's eerie to think about Brittany and Celeste lying in bed that night with their two other abused and battered children in the room. I always find myself wondering if they got any sleep that night or if they laid in bed rehearsing their lies over and over again. Whatever the case may be,

Investigators saw right through it from the get-go. But despite all the evidence against them, Celeste's defense attorney, Robert Greenwald, fought to show the jury that there was reasonable doubt. He argued that there was no evidence to suggest that Celeste was responsible for Amore's murder. Instead, he blamed Brittany Hall for killing her own daughter and instructed the jurors to look at evidence and not to rely on emotion or sympathy. And you may be wondering, how do investigators know that Celeste was the one who killed Amore?

Well, during the trial, multiple witnesses took the stand for the prosecution, pointing the finger at Celeste. But the most crucial witness was Omari's younger sister, Zaire. Can you say your name and spell it for us? Zaire. Z-A-I-R-E. Yes. Okay. Who do you live with? My grandparents. Your grandparents? What do you call your grandparents? Papa and Gigi. Papa and Gigi. Who else lives with you, Papa, and Gigi?

My brother. What is your brother's name? Ja'Kari. Before you lived with Jiji and Papa, where did you live? In apartment. Who lived with you at the apartment? My sister, my brother, and me, and Celeste, and I forgot her name. Did your mom live there? Do you know your mom's name? Can you answer, did your mom live there? Yes or no? Yes.

Do you know your mom's name? I forgot. Is her name Brittany? Yeah. You mentioned you had a sister that lived there. What's your sister's name? Maury. What is it? Maury. How do you spell Maury? Do you know? Uh-uh. No. Do you know her full name? Yes. What's her full name? Maury Nicole Hall. Thank you, ma'am. And you mentioned that Celeste lived with you guys. Who is Celeste? Who is she to you? Dad. Thank you.

Back when you lived with your mom, Celeste, your brother and sister, what kind of foods did you eat? Bread and that's all. Just bread? Did you just eat bread all the time or did you sometimes eat other things? Sometimes we ate other things. Tell me about, so earlier we talked about a typical day now at home where you watch TV, play with your toys. Now I want you to tell me about a typical day when you lived with your mom and Celeste in the apartment.

What would you do then? We don't know. Did you watch TV? No. Did you play on your phone? At that time I didn't have a phone. Did you play with toys? We didn't have toys. What things did you do since you didn't have toys and a phone and a TV? We looked at the wall and yeah, that's all I can think of for right now. Just looked at the wall. Let's talk about where you slept.

When you lived in the apartment with your mom and Celeste, where did you sleep? On the floor. Did you have a pillow? I don't think so. Did you have blankets? Maybe. I don't know. That's okay. Where did your brother sleep? On the floor as well. Where did your sister Amari sleep?

Assistant District Attorney Brian Brown asked Zaire about the last night she had seen Amari, but Zaire was having some trouble remembering. So they ended up showing her this video of her interview with investigators on the morning that Amari went missing, and this seemed to help jog her memory. That night I ate real food and my brother and my sister didn't get to eat no real food and then my sister went to

to the bathroom and when she came out, Whitney told her to open her mouth and she had toilet paper in her mouth and the next morning she would wake up and yeah.

So Zaire said that Amari and Jakari weren't allowed to eat real food that day. And when Amari came out of the bathroom, her mother Brittany shoved toilet paper into her mouth. Now I couldn't find the reasoning they gave as to why she may have done this. But as we know, Amari had severe internal injuries. So she was likely crying a lot. Maybe her parents were wanting to silence the cries. But like Zaire said, by that next morning, Amari wouldn't wake up.

Next morning, Whitney tried to wake her up, and then after that, she got put in a container with a lid on, and got put in the trunk of a car and drove to the bad kids hospital.

It's heartbreaking to think about what Zaire and Ja'kari witnessed that day. Not only did they watch their sister get abused and die, but after she wouldn't wake up, they watched Celeste wrap her body up like trash and put her into that small bin. Celeste and Brittany also used this opportunity to emotionally abuse Zaire and Ja'kari.

by telling them that because Amari was misbehaving, they were taking her to the bad kids hospital, something that they had threatened pretty frequently. Zaire's testimony was heartbreaking and extremely disturbing. For years, Amari, Jakari and Zaire were subjected to prolonged horrific abuse and torture. And the jury was able to see that firsthand. On December 13th, 2024,

After four days of emotional testimony, graphic autopsy photos, and witness statements, both the defense and prosecution rested their case. The jury deliberated for only two hours before reaching their verdict, guilty on all counts. All right, Ms. Owens, will you please rise?

In the Superior Court of Gwinnett County, State of Georgia, on the matter of the State of Georgia v. Celeste Alexandria Owens, indictment number 24B-03590-11, verdict of the jury. We, the jury, find the defendant as follows. Count one, malice murder, guilty. Count two, felony murder, guilty. Count three, felony murder, guilty.

Count four, felony murder, guilty. Count five, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count six, aggravated battery, guilty. Count seven, aggravated assault, guilty. Count eight, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count nine, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty.

Count 10, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 11, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 12, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 13, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 14, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 15, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty.

Count 16, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 17, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 18, cruelty to children in the first degree, guilty. Count 19, concealing the death of another, guilty. And count 21, making a false statement, guilty. Signed and dated this 13th day of December 2024 by the foreperson.

Before Judge Angela Duncan sentenced Celeste Owens, prosecutor Sabrina Nazeem asked for the harshest sentence possible, life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an extra 235 years. Amari's loved ones, including her grandmother and grandfather, Barbara and Tony Wright, and Amari's aunt, Takara Wright, were also able to read their victim's impact statements to the court. Judge, thank you for allowing me this time to speak.

I want to thank the jury for their time. I want to thank the court for their time. I want to thank them for the verdict that they delivered this evening. Judge, Your Honor, this has been a great big impact for me and my family and my siblings. My heart is broken in millions and millions of pieces that I have not been able to know how my family

Granddaughter passed away. It's worse beyond. I can't imagine the final word in the dictionary to describe my whole total feeling. But my heart is... I miss Amari every day. There's days I'm thinking that door's gonna open up and she's gonna come. There are days that I fear her. I miss her so much. I'm trying so hard.

Each and every day of my life to live forward. Zaire, Jakari, her siblings, Miss or Dilly. Every day, Judge Yonah, I wake up. There's a picture that I have. I talk to her like she's still here. There's days where I feel like I can hear her voice calling me Chi-Chi. Even when I go in the kitchen.

and make that pan of bread that she thought was a cake. I feel like I can see her standing at the kitchen sink. I miss Amari. This impact of my life will never be put back together. My granddaughter did not deserve the way that she was taken out of this world. Judge, Your Honor, no one deserves this world this way. I'm praying that God heals me

First I want to say, we got justice for my kids. I thank you. I thank them. I thank you. And I thank you. If you knew Mari, sweetest, sweetest, sweetest kid you can ever meet. Sweet, loving child. My stepmother and my dad would never get to hear Gigi ever again. Not from her.

My sister Shawn and I would never get to hear the words "TT" from her ever again. Ever. Because so much is so senseless to do what they did to her and take her away from us. She didn't deserve that. I get that nobody deserved that, but she definitely didn't deserve that. Sweetest kid. I've never ever seen my niece get angry. Now, did she?

Kind of debate with my stepmom about fighting for the front seat. Gigi, I'm sitting with papa in the front. Of course. Happiest child ever. Loving kid. Light up your life. And for what they did to her. Respectfully, Judge. I hope she burns in hell. Hell is a baby. I can't imagine every day getting tortured like that. There's so many things I want to say.

but I know I can't say them. So I'm going to pray to the Lord above, and I'm just going to end it by saying I thank you again, and I hope you don't give her freedom ever. She don't deserve it. Thank you. Thank you, my baby. As Celeste Owen stood at the defense table with a blank expression on her face, Judge Duncan admitted that throughout her entire career in law, Amari's case was the most horrific she had ever seen. This is by far...

the most heinous evil that I have ever seen in my entire career. And I do not understand it. As attorneys, jurists, we see really good people come in front of us based on their really worst days. But you didn't just have a bad day. The crimes and evil that was perpetrated against these three children is something that I will never understand, nor will I ever forget it.

Based on that, the court does hereby sentence you as follows. Account one, malice murder. You are hereby sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Count seven merges with count three. I'm sorry, seven into four. Count six merges into count three.

And count five merges to count two. Counts two, three, and four are vacated by operation of law. On the remaining counts, counts eight through 18 and counts 19 and 21. The court does hereby sentence you to consecutive...

235 years. So life without parole plus 235 years. You will never see the light of day to perpetrate this type of behavior, cruelty, and evilness upon another person. Go with the deputy.

Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin Gatson stated, "...this was a horrible way to treat these children and a tragedy that Amore Hill was killed as a result. We pray that her sister and brother are able to heal from the abuse they endured and that their extended family can get a sense of closure."

following her sentencing celeste was escorted out of the courtroom and immediately taken into custody today celeste is housed at the arendelle state prison in georgia where she will remain for the rest of her life as for brittany hall her charges were upgraded to include malice murder and felony murder she's currently residing at the gwinnett county jail until her trial which has yet to be scheduled and we can only hope that she too will get the justice she deserves brittany hall may not have murdered her daughter

but she watched it happen right in front of her. She also participated in the abuse. Amari's young life was marked by relentless suffering and cruelty by the hands of those who were meant to protect and love her. Her tiny body was covered with bruises, her ribs were broken, she was severely malnourished, and she had suffered from internal bleeding. Amari's mother, Brittany, and her partner, Celeste Owens,

had turned their home into a chamber of horrors for all three of those children. And as a result, Amari's life was cut short. She never got to experience the love that every child deserves. And instead of hugs, warmth and care, Amari only knew fear, pain. Now, as for her siblings, Zaire and Jakari, they have both been placed in the custody of their grandparents, Barbara and Tony Wright.

And we can only hope that their lives are brighter now that they've escaped the torturous environment that it started in. Today, we will be making a donation to the National Child Abuse Coalition, an organization that aims to prevent and address child abuse and neglect. They also work to reform federal policies within the child welfare system.

Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America from both Courtney and I. We are actually recording this episode in Colorado. We've been on our yearly anniversary vacation, still working on all of our shows and we're

We'll see you next time.

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