Brittany Nicole Hall And Celeste Owens were arrested after investigators found 8-year-old Nicole Amari Hall’s body in a wooded area of DeKalb County in Georgia.
Hall, 27, reported her daughter, who went by her middle name, Amari, missing on Nov. 21 from Peachtree Corners, Ga. Hall stayed with her wife, Owens, and her three children at the Hometown Studios and Suites on Jimmy Carter Boulevard.
Amari’s body was found in the wooded area 15 miles from the hotel on Nov. 23 after Hall told investigators where to find her daughter. Hall admitted to knowing where her daughter was after police noted that statements from the two women and the evidence did not match. The discrepancies caused the police to suspect foul play immediately.
Hall called 911 around 9:15 a.m. to say Amari was missing. She said Amari was last seen wearing her Tweety Bird jacket with white and blue pajamas around midnight. She also told investigators that her daughter had autism and that they were new to the area.
This is the location where 8 yr- old Nicole Amari Hall was found. @GwinnettPd said her mother who initially reported her missing, lead them to this location in Dekalb Co. #BrittanyHall and her partner #CelesteOwens hv been charged in connection to her murder pic.twitter.com/15F6j2LzG2
— Ashli Lincoln WSB-TV (@AshliLincoln) November 24, 2021
“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.
Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure spoke at a press conference on Nov. 23 and said that Owens, 29, was charged with felony murder and child cruelty. Hall was also detained for child cruelty, filing a false police report and concealing another person’s death.
“We will charge Celeste Owens with felony murder in connection with the death of Amari Hall,” said McClure. “Additionally, Brittany Hall will be charged with concealing a death of another. We will also continue to investigate her role in this murder.”
An autopsy will be conducted by the Gwinnett County medical examiner to determine Amari’s cause of death. Hall’s other children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, were placed in protective custody. No motive has been established in Amari’s death, and the case is still being investigated.
