ATLANTA — UPDATE: The jury has reached a verdict in the case. Read the update here.
Original story: A DeKalb County jury of 12 people are now deliberating after hearing closing arguments for the case where a mother is accused in her son's 1999 death.
Teresa Black will soon learn her fate as she and her lawyers anticipate the jury's decision. Black is being charged with two counts of felony murder, two counts of cruelty to children, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another.
It comes after final testimonies were heard on Monday.
The prosecution presented closing arguments that painted a picture of a mother who played a role in her son's death, but the defense presented Black as a struggling mother who did everything she could to protect and help her child until an "accidental" tragedy happened.
According to a previous indictment record, she is accused of giving her son too much cold medicine, which allegedly led to his death. The record also accused the mother of striking him in the head with an unknown object and failing to seek medical treatment for him. William's remains were discovered in 1999, but it wasn't until 2022 that detectives finally identified the boy and arrested his mom.
"She's afraid people will think she killed him and people will think she hurt him, but she gets stuck. This 21-year-old makes a terrible decision and starts to snowball," said Public Defender and Black's attorney Ryan Bozarth. "You all can hate her for her lies, but that's not what Teresa Black is on trial for."
Watch the full video of the defense below.
Prosecuting attorneys argued that the DeKalb mother gave him too much cough medicine and dumped his body in the woods.
Watch the full video of the prosecution below.
"Teresa was successful for a long time. She was able to hide the evidence and to muffle this child's voice. His ability to speak from the dead about what had happened to him. But, William did speak. He spoke to all the angels," said Prosecuting Attorney Shannon Hodder, who represents the state.
The judge recessed court for the day and the jury will continue their deliberations on Wednesday starting at 9 a.m.
Watch the full closing arguments below.