GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The jury has reached a verdict for one of the two women in the killing of 8-year-old Amari Hall in Gwinnett County.
Jurors found the partner of Amari's mother, Celeste Owens, guilty on all counts: malice murder, three counts of felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, 11 counts of cruelty to children, making a false statement and concealing the death of another.
Warrants previously said Owens hit Amari in the head several times, placed her in a trash bag and dumped her body.
"This is by far the most heinous evil that I have seen in my entire career," Gwinnett County Judge Angela Duncan said as she read Owens' sentencing. "It is something I will never understand, nor will I ever forget it."
On Friday evening, the judge sentenced Owens to life without the possibility of parole plus a consecutive 235-year sentence.
"You will never see the light of day to perpetrate this type of behavior, cruelty and evilness upon another person," Duncan added.
You can watch Owens' sentencing in the video below.
Meanwhile, Amari's mother, Brittany Hall, was also previously indicted on on 17 counts back in 2022, including malice murder, felony murder, several counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, concealing the death of another and two counts of false statements. She was on probation for felony theft and assault when authorities arrested her after finding Amari's body.
Hall's trial is set to happen on a future date.
More on the case
Both Hall and Owens reported that Amari went missing from a Homewood Suites in Gwinnett County in November 2021.
While searching for the child, investigators said they found deleted videos from a Nest cam on Owen’s cell phone – depicting both women hitting and kicking the children, leading them to arrest both women for abusing Amari and Hall's other children. Authorities said they also found information on a U-Haul reservation on the cellphone, which was the key clue in finding Amari's body in a wooded area in DeKalb County.
The district attorney's office said investigators searched Owens’ phone and testified in court that they found web searches on the day of the initial report. Some of the searches included “What to do when a child just doesn't' listen," “Lakes near me," "How does sewers on the streets work," "Why do kids run away," "How do I report someone missing," and "U-Haul: Customer Account."
Amari's official cause of death was listed as battered child syndrome, according to Deputy Chief District Attorney Sabrina Nizam. Warrants for the women also show a history of child abuse and said Amari was a child with autism.
“This was a horrible way to treat these children and a tragedy that Amari Hall was killed as a result,” Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “We pray that her sisters are able to heal from the abuse they endured and that their extended family can get a sense of closure.”