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A US woman has been charged with murder in the death of her 6-year-old son outside Atlanta more than 23 years ago, her arrest brought about by a forensic artist's rendering of the child that led to a tip, authorities said Wednesday.
A DeKalb County grand jury returned an indictment on June 28 against Teresa Ann Bailey Black, District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a news release.
Black, 45, is charged with felony murder, cruelty to children, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another in the death of William DaShawn Hamilton. She was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 29 and is awaiting extradition to Georgia.
No attorney was listed for Black in online court records.
When the boy's body was found in a wooded area on February 26, 1999, authorities estimated he had been dead for three to six months. His identity was unknown and the manner and cause of his death was undetermined.
He remained unidentified for decades, despite the efforts of DeKalb County police and the county medical examiner's office, as well as news coverage of the case. The National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children got involved in 2000, providing renderings of the boy and featuring the story. A forensic artist with the centre produced a new rendering in 2019 that was featured by news outlets.
The unknown child found in Decatur, Georgia has been identified as 6-year-old William DaShawn Hamilton.
A person who knew Black and her son in 1998 saw a rendering in May 2020 and contacted the centre, according to the news release. DeKalb County police and prosecutors then followed that lead.
Ava, who preferred not to use her last name, said she was close with the mother and son when they lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.
She said she often took care of William, describing him as a fun, witty, adventurous and intelligent little boy who loved to dance.
"He liked to crack jokes," said Ava who never stopped wondering what happened to him.
"He did like to draw a lot, colour, mainly read books. He didn't want you to read to him … he wanted to read to you!"
Black and her son had been living in Charlotte with a family member when she withdrew William from school in December 1998 and moved with him to Atlanta, the release says.
She returned to Charlotte in late 1999 without the boy and told different stories about where he was.
DNA collected from Black earlier this year linked her to the remains, authorities said.
Teresa Ann Bailey Black. Photo / Supplied
"For far too long, this precious little boy had no name and no story," Boston said in the news release.
"Through the tireless efforts of several individuals and organisations who were determined not to let this boy be forgotten, William has been identified, and justice will be served in his memory."
Angeline Hartmann, spokeswoman for the National Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, said the case demonstrates "why we never give up hope".
"For more than two decades, a woman in Charlotte who knew William and his mother followed her gut feeling that something wasn't right and kept looking for him," Hartmann said in the release.
"We're grateful she never stopped until she found a rendering of William online and gave investigators the missing piece to help solve this 23-year-old mystery."
Boston is asking anyone who may have known Black or William at the time of the boy's death to call her office.
