Trial Begins for Mother Accused of Killing 6-Year-Old Son in 1999 and Dumping Him in Cemetery

Teresa Black is on trial in relation to the murder of her young son William Dashawn Hamilton in what became one of Georgia's most heartbreaking cold cases

Jury selection has begun in the long-awaited trial of a Georgia woman accused of killing her 6-year-old son in a vexing cold case nearly 25 years ago.

Teresa Ann Bailey Black, 46, is charged with two counts of felony murder, two counts of cruelty to children, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another in connection with the death of her son, William Dashawn Hamilton, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office.

The unthinkable crime first came to light in February 1999, when the remains of a badly decomposed young boy were found in a wooded area near a church cemetery in Decatur. For more than 20 years, the tiny victim was known as John Clifton Doe and the case went cold.

Investigators got a huge break in the case in 2022 when a tipster helped them identify the boy as William DeShawn Hamilton and led them to their main suspect – his mother.

In 2022, a DeKalb County Grand Jury returned an indictment against his mother in connection with his murder. She was taken into custody in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 29, 2022 and was extradited to Georgia.

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Now the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office has announced that jury selection has begun in Black’s trial. When the boy was found on Feb. 26, 1999, authorities determined that he had been dead for three to six months before his remains were discovered in a cold cemetery at the corner of Clifton Springs Road and Clifton Springs Church Road.

He was found wearing a blue and white plaid shirt, red jeans and brown Timberland boots. The manner and cause of his death were undetermined, the District Attorney’s Office said in 2022.

According to a previous indictment, 11 Alive reports, she is accused of causing her son's death by giving him "a substance or substances containing Diphenhydramine and Acetaminophen."

She is also accused of hitting him in the head with an unknown object, according to the indictment, 11 Alive reports.

Black never reported him missing, 11 Alive reports.

The boy remained unidentified for decades until the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) became involved in the case.

NCMEC provided renderings of the boy and posted them on their website and social media sites.
In 2019, a NCMEC forensic artist completed a new facial reconstruction rendering that ignited renewed interest in the case — and led to an illuminating break in the case.

In May of 2020, a tipster who knew Black and her son in 1998 saw a rendering of the unidentified child and contacted NCMEC.

The tipster was a woman named Ava from North Carolina, who was Black’s former neighbor, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.

She told authorities how Black returned to North Carolina without her son but could never fully explain where he was, Fox 5 reports.

DNA collected from Black in 2022 allegedly linked her to the remains of the child found in February 1999, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Investigators learned that Black was living in Charlotte, N.C., with her son and a family member when she abruptly withdrew William from school in December 1998 and moved with him to Atlanta, the District Attorney’s Office said.

She returned to Charlotte in late 1999 without William and allegedly told people various stories about where he was at the time, according to the District Attorney's Office.

“This case is a perfect example of why we never give up hope,” said Angeline Hartmann, Director of Communications at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Fox 5 Atlanta reports.

“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. 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.”

Black’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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