Amari Hall's death: Jury finds Celeste Owens guilty on all counts, sentenced to life plus 235 years

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - The jury found Celeste Owens guilty on all 21 counts.  Owens, who is charged with killing her partner's 8-year-old daughter, Amari Hall, in 2021. The case, unfolding at the Gwinnett County Courthouse, has captured widespread attention due to the disturbing details of the child’s death. 

It took about two hours for jurors to reach a unanimous verdict on charges including 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.

The judge called this crime the most evil case of child cruelty she had ever seen.

"My heart is empty. I miss Amari every day," the victim’s grandmother, Barbara Wright, said during the sentencing hearing immediately following the verdict. She was fighting back tears. "My heart is broken in millions of pieces that I have not been able to put back together," she said.

"I talk to her like she’s still here. There are days when I can hear her voice," Wright added.

"She definitely didn’t deserve that," the young girl’s aunt, Tacara Wright, told the judge. "Respectfully judge, I hope she burns in hell."

"This is by far, the most heinous, evil I have ever seen in my entire career and I do not understand it," Judge Angela Duncan said during the sentencing.

Owens was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus 235 years that will be served consecutively.

"You will never see the light of day. to perpetrate this type of behavior, cruelty an evilness upon another person," the judge added.

"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."

Brittany Hall, the biological mother of all three children, awaits trial at a later date.

Closing arguments in Celeste Owens murder trial

During closing arguments, prosecutor Sabrina Nizam presented graphic evidence and testimony that painted a harrowing picture of abuse. "This defendant helped beat the living life out of Amari," Nizam told the jury, emphasizing that Owens and the child’s mother, Brittany Hall, acted together in the abuse.

Nizam detailed a pattern of severe mistreatment, saying, "Slapping them in the back of the head, the stomping, the blindfolding, the laying on the ground — they did this together; their method was together."

Amari’s body was discovered in a wooded area in DeKalb County, days after her mother reported her missing in November 2021. According to prosecutors, Owens fatally struck the child, placed her body in trash bags, and dumped her in the forest. Both Owens and Hall initially claimed Amari had disappeared from their extended-stay hotel room.

"It doesn't matter who delivered the fatal blow," Nizam argued. "Ladies and gentlemen, it was not one fatal blow. Every single blow was fatal to Amari."

The medical examiner’s testimony supported the prosecution’s case. Dr. James Claude Upshaw Downs, associate medical examiner for Gwinnett County, testified Friday that Amari died from multiple blunt force injuries. Her body also showed signs of malnutrition and battered child syndrome, which contributed to her death.

"Multiple wounds, in multiple locations, in multiple stages of healing," Dr. Downs told the court.

Defense attorney Robert Greenwald acknowledged the horrific nature of the evidence but argued it did not prove Owens was responsible for Amari’s death. "I get the heartstrings of this case," Greenwald said, urging the jury to focus on the facts presented in court.

Greenwald contested the timeline of events, noting that videos of abuse introduced by prosecutors were recorded in July 2021, months before Amari’s death in November. "You are to base your verdict on evidence or the lack thereof, not on emotion or sympathy," Greenwald told jurors.

The jury must now weigh the prosecution’s evidence, which includes photos, videos, digital data, and witness testimony, against the defense’s claims of insufficient proof linking Owens to Amari’s death.

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Gwinnett County prosecutors rest case in Amari Hall murder

The prosecution rested its case this morning, presenting compelling evidence over the course of the trial. Their final witness, Dr. James Claude Upshaw Downs, Gwinnett County’s associate medical examiner, testified that Amari died of multiple blunt force injuries. He detailed the horrific abuse the child endured, describing evidence of malnutrition, internal bleeding, fractures, and what he termed "battered child syndrome."

Dr. Downs explained that battered child syndrome involves multiple wounds in various stages of healing across different parts of the body, indicating repeated episodes of abuse. Amari’s injuries included significant blunt force trauma to her chest, a damaged liver, defensive wounds on her hands, and bound legs. Her autopsy revealed fresh and old wounds, scars, and blistered skin, along with signs of severe malnutrition. At the time of her death, Amari weighed just 54 pounds.

Jurors also viewed disturbing autopsy photos and video evidence during the trial, including footage of the defendant physically abusing the child. The defense rested its case without calling any witnesses, and Owens did not testify in her own defense.