GA Mother Faces Murder Charges 23 Years Later After Death Of Son, 6

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — A mother faces murder charges 23 years later after the death of her six-year-old child, according to multiple reports.

The body of a six-year-old boy was found in 1999 in Decatur, but officials weren’t able to identify him, WSB-TV reported. After a break in the case this year, investigators identified the boy as William DaShawn Hamilton. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office has charged Teresa Black with felony murder and other counts.

According to WAGA-TV, the boy had recently moved to the Atlanta area from North Carolina with his mother. On Feb. 26, 1999, a gravesite worker found the boy lying in a field.

In 2019, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shared a facial reconstruction of what the boy may have looked like in life. A year later, a North Carolina woman said that she recognized the sketch as Hamilton, WAGA-TV reported.

A DeKalb County grand jury indicted Black for multiple charges including felony murder, aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, and cruelty to children on June 28 of this year.

Black never reported her son missing and left Atlanta shortly after his death, officials told WAGA-TV.