Teresa Ann Black murder trial: Old friend testifies against mother accused of murdering son in Atlanta

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The trial is underway in DeKalb County for a mother accused of murdering her son 25 years ago.  

Prosecutors accuse Teresa Ann Black of killing the child, who was 6-years-old at the time, and then hiding his death.

Ava McNeil was the first witness called by the prosecution. She provided the break in the case that led to Black's arrest.

McNeil and Black were friends in North Carolina in the late '90s. McNeil came forward saying she recognized 6-year-old William Hamilton as her former neighbor and recalled Black returning to North Carolina without her son.

In opening statements, Senior Assistant District Attorney Shannon Hoder told jurors evidence will prove Black neglected and abused her son. Hoder says Black gave the child a fatal dose of medication that caused his death soon after she moved to Atlanta with him in December 1998.

His body was discovered in a wooded area near a small cemetery on Clifton Springs Road in February 1999.

Black was arrested and charged with murder in 2022.

Defense attorney Sam Welty told jurors Black has lived with regret for abandoning her son's body and lying about his whereabouts, but said she loved her son and didn't give the child a fatal dose of medication as the prosecution maintains.

Testimony is expected to resume Thursday, Jan. 4.