DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — More than two decades after concealing the death of her 6-year-old son, a mother learned her sentence on Friday.
Teresa Black faces 10 years in prison for killing her son William Hamilton and leaving him to decompose in the woods of DeKalb County in Georgia in 1999. William’s remains were found six months after his death, but his identity was unknown until a break in the case in 2022.
Our partners at WSB followed the case closely as it went to court.
Black admitted she left her son dead in the woods, claiming his death was due to an accidental overdose of medication and she did not mean to harm him.
On Wednesday, a jury found Black not guilty of felony murder, cruelty to children and aggravated assault charges. She was found guilty of concealing William’s death death.
On Friday, Judge Stacey Hydrick sentenced Black to the maximum 10 years in prison.
“As a mother, I cannot fathom how you could leave your child in the woods to rot. There are so many other options and it did not have to end this way. But your choices in leaving William’s body in the woods, never reported him missing and lying about his existence for over 20 years are not only appalling but also resulted in the complete destruction of any evidence that could have determined what happened. We’re left here still with no answers. You are the only one who knows what happened,” Hydrick said.
The state said Black gave William a lethal dose of medication, but none of the doctors who testified could say if that was the cause of death or not because William’s body was too badly decomposed.
Public defenders who are representing Black asked that the jury consider that Black was a young mother who was homeless, alone, and didn’t know what to do when her son got sick.
In a news conference after the verdict was announced, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said her office still believes Black is responsible for her son’s death.
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