A judge ruled on Wednesday Brittany Hall and Celeste Owens will remain behind bars without bond in Gwinnett County after the two were charged with the murder of 8-year-old Nicole Amari Hall.
Amari is the biological daughter of defendant Brittany Hall, who told police her partner killed the 8-year-old and dumped her body in DeKalb County.
Prosecutors say there is evidence both women were responsible for the child’s murder.
Prosecutors said Brittany Hall called 911 to report her missing in November 2021, but there was no sign of her on the property.
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Brittany Hall had told police she woke up to find the girl missing from their upstairs unit at the Hometown Studios and Suites on Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
Police Chief J.D. McClure said officers found the body of the 8-year-old in a wooded area near the Stone Mill Trace subdivision at Stone Mill Trace and Stone Mountain Freeway.
Police said they suspected foul play due to inconsistencies in the statements of the two women. Prosecutors said police talked to Brittany Hall’s five- and six-year-old sons, who indicated Hall had been hurt by the women.
A prosecutor described a child’s statements to investigators:
“Officers spoke to (a child) who said Amari had gone to the ‘bad kids hospital,’” they said in court. “They tried to inquire a little bit further about what that meant and ultimately the statements that were made indicated, ‘She died last morning when my mommy went to get weed.’”
The two children were placed in state custody.
Video from inside the extended-stay hotel showed Owens and Brittany Hall beating the three children, prosecutors said.
An autopsy indicated she had several fractured ribs, internal bleeding and was malnourished. The coroner reported the cause of death as battered child syndrome.
Police in Gwinnett County said Hall was reported missing on November 19 in Peachtree Corners.
SEE ALSO: Mother And Partner Arrested After 8-Year-Old Georgia Girl Found Dead
The girl’s mother, Brittany Hall met with Gwinnett County police detectives and said she woke just before 9 a.m. to find the girl missing.
“I woke up yesterday morning and my daughter wasn’t here. The door was cracked. I went outside the whole place. I did not see her. I called 911,” Hall said in an interview.
Police said Hall was diagnosed with Autism and was new to the Peachtree Corners area.
The following day, police announced they had charged Brittany Hall’s partner, Celeste Owens, with felony murder for the girl’s death after officers found the body.
“I am deeply saddened to report to you that at 10:45 this morning the body of Amari Hall was discovered,” Chief J.D. McClure said.
Initially, Brittany Hall was charged with concealing the death of another.
Just more than a week after Amria Hall was reported missing, authorities upgraded Brittany Hall’s charges to felony murder and malice murder.
Both women requested public defenders in their cases.
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