Living With Monsters: The Amari Hall Story

fall never arrives all at once first the air then the light and slowly the things you love begin to find each other a jacket meets a dress a hoodie slips beneath a blazer an old cap finds a new scarf because you don't simply step into the season you create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross. On Prime Crime. We have an eight-year-old child that has autism that we're trying to find that has been missing for several hours and we're concerned about her and it's getting very cold and it's only going to get colder tonight. When a little girl disappears, police leave no stone unturned. Anytime a missing child report goes off, all hands on deck, everybody was struggling to The police determined that the story that led up to her being missing began to unravel and they suspected foul play. As hours stretch into days, the case grows even more grim. At that point, our investigation transitioned from a missing person case to indeed a homicide case. Hi there everybody, I'm Jesse Weber and welcome to Prime Crime, where we break down some of the most compelling and memorable true crime cases from across the country. We have an eight-year-old girl who's in danger. She's been missing for two days by the time police are called and the people you'd expect to help the most seem to have a different agenda. So on November 21st, 2021, police received a phone call coming out of Georgia about a missing eight-year-old girl. The 911 call was made by Brittany Hall, the girl's mother. Gwinnett County, Georgia, just a few miles outside of Atlanta. Little Nicole Amari Hall has reportedly disappeared from the extended stay hotel where she's been living with her blended family. So Brittany Hall was the mother of the three children who lived in the motel, the mother of Amari Hall, and also of Amari Hall's younger siblings, a six-year-old sister and a five-year-old brother. Brittany Hall was living in that motel with the children and her girlfriend, Celeste Owens. Celeste was Brittany's partner. They had known each other for several years, eventually moved in together in the summer of 2021. Nicole Amari Hall, she was autistic. She used to like to go by the name Amari rather than Nicole. So the 911 call came in on November 1st, and police arrived. They obviously started their investigation. Things started looking suspicious pretty early on. So the children in this case were living in quite a high level of isolation. They were living in this extended stay hotel and being homeschooled. So what does that mean? That means first and foremost, no contact with other children for all intensive purposes. There are no neighbors, so to speak. The living situation raises a red flag for police, who immediately bring Celeste Owens and Brittany Hall in for questioning. They begin by asking what happened on November 20th, the last day Amari was said to be in the hotel room. Celeste sometimes refers to her as Maury. We're going to start with Saturday. From the moment you woke up, I want to know everything you did all the way until the moment you realized you were missing. Saturday, I woke up. I went to the store. Okay. What time was that? Saturday, I woke up, went to the store. I had to be around 11. Couldn't be at the 12 because I don't like shopping that early. Then I came back. What happens right after that? Right after that, I leave. Okay, you leave. Where'd you go? I went with my sister back to my grandma's house. So you and your sister go to grandma's house. So when you got back from grandma's house, you said that was 4 or 5 p.m.? No, 8 a.m. The story wasn't adding up because she had told the police that she was with her sister. And the police interviewed the sister and found out, no, that was incorrect. She was not with me. So she had false statements. Now, when you get back around 4 or 5, did you notice that the kids were in their bed? I didn't even look because my corner, I went straight to my corner. It was on the right side. So as soon as you open the door, mine's. So you just wanted to go to bed. You weren't really like checking to see if they were there or not. You just assumed they were. Yeah. And was Brittany, Brittany was home when you did that? When you got in? Okay. And where was Brittany? Was she in bed or somewhere else? She was in bed. She was in bed. Okay. And that's around 4 or 5. And then what happens after that? That's when I was asleep. And that's when Brittany woke me up and said, babe, you know, we gotta find her. And I'm like, what happened? What's going on? And I think I ran away. And then that's when she went outside and started looking. Okay. And what time was that when she woke you up? Right before, right before she called 911. She woke me up as soon as she was dialing 911. She woke me up. While detectives question Celeste, other officers search for Amari. They distribute a poster that describes her as 4'10", wearing a Tweety Bird jacket and blue and white pajamas. Of course, any time a missing child report goes off, all hands on deck. Everybody was struggling to find her. There was door-to-door canvassing, trying to maybe see if she had wandered off into a neighbor's home or a neighbor's, uh, in the motel, like just a neighbor's room in there, or maybe she was just on another floor. She was autistic. And obviously those were issues that the police had in mind when trying to find her. So she wakes you up, she calls 911 as she's waking you up, you said, and then she goes outside and she went and checked the whole parking lot. Okay. So that, that was one thing I wanted to touch on too. So we've checked several cameras. There's a camera for the hotel. There's the, uh, car wash across the street. There's a bocce. There's another camera. We've checked all those cameras. We had people checking those cameras right now. They never saw her walking around that hotel. Really? This morning? So is there any reason why, why that's not adding up? I don't know. They came out and, uh, they poured over the hotel complex. They, neighboring businesses, they tracked down surveillance footage from the motel and from businesses across the street. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. I coach. Football. Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pre-game. He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, Coach. Home of the Save. Join for just $20 at BJs.com/Mosquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer new members only. BJ's. Home of the Save. Peter on the same side, but there was no surveillance video played of Amari running out of the hotel because she didn't or of Ms. Hall searching for her because that never occurred. No, we didn't see her walk. No, that's not what I'm saying. We didn't see any of that. Yeah. So that didn't happen. Okay. We know that didn't happen. There's no dispute about it because the video evidence shows that that did not happen. The police started to determine. That the story that led up to her being missing began to unravel and they suspected foul play. Police try to fill in the missing pieces by talking to Amari's two younger siblings, sister Zaire and brother Jakari. The statements the children made to the police when they arrived at the scene were somewhat disturbing. The middle child gave more of a little comprehensive statement about seeing her. Her sister go away. She misbehaved and went away and she wasn't going to be coming back. He's at a hospital that bad kids go to and a man put a hole in the doctor's room. Oh, wow. That sounds kind of scary. When was she at the hospital? The other night. The other night? Yes. Okay. So would you say it was like two nights ago or three nights ago? Two nights ago. So the little sister explained to police that Celeste had told her that Amari had to go to the bad kids hospital. Which is really just a terrible phrase to say to a child. It feels almost like she had used that phrase maybe more than once or maybe used it kind of as a veiled threat to the child. How did the kids know you? Like, did they call you Celeste? Did they call you mom number two? Like, did they call you dad? Okay. Is there any reason why Zaire would say dad took her sister to the bad girl hospital? To the bad girl hospital? Oh, she's saying that because when Maury would act out, I'd say, Maury, listen, if you can't listen to us, you're going to go, can't say default. ex. Can't say none of that stuff. I said, "Moria, if you can't play with your sisters or you can't negotiate, you don't go to this place." And normally when we say that, Moria act right for at least three hours. Nicole Amari Hall. She was, at the very least, on the autism spectrum. Quite often, children with this disorder have been misinterpreted as being difficult, stubborn, and so forth. Then you have two younger children who, just by virtue of them being younger, are likely to be a handful who are in the mixed here. Living in a hotel, not the best environment to raise a child with challenges. So this was just the environment that was somewhat of a powder keg psychologically, I would say. And it appears the children may have endured severe suffering as a result of the fallout. Pretty early on, the police realized the other children looked abused, maybe malnourished. The two children had some bruises on them. Is there any reason why there's bruises on the children? Um, don't know. Do you know about the bruises that are on Soraya? When's the last time she got a licking? Was I here? I can't tell you. Actually, the bruise on her back, her eye, her face. I mean, that's not a slap on the wrist. Do you know how those were caused? I really don't. With every hour Nicole Amari Hall is missing, the chances of finding her alive continue to fade. So detectives press Owens harder to tell them anything she knows about the girls' whereabouts. When I have a six-year-old that tells me that dad, which is you, took her and she's not coming back, then that raises some concerns, and that's something I have to explore. So with that being said, again, do you know where Nicole is? No, I don't. Did you take Nicole from the home? I did not take Nicole. Did anything happen to Nicole within the last 24 hours that you're aware of that caused her any type of injury? No. No. Is Nicole alive that you're aware of? That I'm aware of, yes. Is she dead that you're aware of? No. No. Okay. Do you have any reason to believe that she would not be okay? Well, any kid that's wondering, I assume the worst. Okay. Do you know anything about her whereabouts? No, except the same thing we've been saying 20 times today. It's just the same thing. And if I'm coming off angry, it's because it's just a lot going on. I know it's a lot going on. I just have a couple more questions. And that's all I got for you. As a last-ditch effort, detectives use Amari's sister's statement to try to pry information from Owens. The little girl said that you were involved, so we need to address that. We need to see if there was any type of involvement. Okay, why would she say that she's afraid of you? Why would she say that you have a gun and that you would threaten her? Why would she say that you took Nicole? I don't know why she said that. You would have to ask her that. So you're just saying she's just making it up? No, I'm not making that up, but they did say that you took Nicole. They don't like when I get mad, but I don't get mad to the point where it's like threats and stuff like that. Has it ever gotten physical? No, and it's like kids also lie as well. So it's like, I'm not going to believe everything that flies out a kid's mouth. Meanwhile, police continue their search for Amari, still hoping to find her alive. Police pulled out all the stops. There were helicopters, there were canines that were around trying to sniff. They pulled out all the stops. For her body or her scent. November 22nd, the Gwinnett County police chief has a devastating update to the case. We compared statements that we had gotten from Brittany Hall and also her partner, Celeste Owen. We compared those statements with evidence that we gathered and recognized that those statements were indeed false. Celeste was arrested first and it was I think the 22nd and Brittany Hall was allowed to go home but she was arrested the very next day when they called her back in. - So how old am I being detained? - Well, you gotta go over to the jail. - You're gonna take me to jail? - I told you you'd be in charge with false statements. So I said you're not free to leave. Celeste Owens and Brittany Hall, after they were arrested, were not released on their own recognizance. They did not have bail set. They were held. They were held in jail pending the trial. Police are now searching for 8-year-old Nicole Amari Hall's body and also trying to determine whether Celeste Owens had a role in her death. Police then tried to track Celeste Owens' movements and they found surveillance video of Celeste and receipts by Celeste essentially renting a U-Haul truck on the 19th, which then corroborated, of course, that this did happen two days later. First the air, then the light, and slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. I coach football. Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices. 30 pounds of pasta, 3 cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork, and BJ's knows savings. Home of the Save. Join for just $20 at bjs.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for 6 months. Open soon. Limited time offer, new members only. BJ's Home of the Save. Before the 911 call. Police tracked Celeste's cell phone pings from the hotel to the U-Haul place, back to the hotel, tracking it into the DeKalb County, the neighboring county, and then going back to the U-Haul, back in Gwinnett County. All that was captured on the flock camera system, which reads and captures the license plates. They got the receipt where she had signed for it, from the U-Haul place itself. Following the trail of surveillance videos and Owen's cell phone pings, police tragically find what they're looking for. I'm deeply sad to report to you that at 1045 this morning, the body of Amari Hall was discovered in DeKalb County near the Stone Mountain Freeway. My heart goes out to the extended family of Amari Hall. We work diligently on this case. The investigators from. Our uniformed patrol officers who went out and searched the area. We worked extremely hard. And unfortunately, these were not the results that we had hoped for. Amari was ultimately found in a wooded area in a neighboring county. They found her body wrapped in garbage bags, just in the wood line. Within the next several hours, we will charge Celeste Owen with felony murder in connection with. the death of Amari Hall. Additionally, Brittany Hall will be charged with concealing the death of another. We will continue to also investigate her role in this murder. We are happy to bring these individuals to justice, and I'd like to once again to thank the officers here. I'd also like to thank the residents at the Hometown Studios, who were very helpful in our investigation as we searched door to door for Amari. It tugs at your heartstrings. Here, you have an eight-year-old, who is just starting out in life, and she winds up in trash bags in the woods. I'm sure it took an emotional toll on all the law enforcement, police, prosecutors who were involved. For sure, everybody out there is searching for her. Her body was actually cocooned in two plastic bags. The two bags were anchored around her body with a black knit piece of cloth. When you have bodies that are wrapped, that goes to show maybe even elements of premeditation. Because Amari's body was off the road and back into a wooded area, that means that the perpetrator would have had to have stopped the vehicle, taken her precious little body, and walked from the shoulder of the road back into the wooded area in order to discard them. There's a real attempt to try to obscure her. Or hide Amari's body in this particular case. Amari died from the injuries she sustained from being beaten. Juries are human. Juries are human. Juries are human. Someone has to pay. Someone has to pay. Someone has to pay. Amari's cause of death, to be quite frank, was that she was beaten to death. There's no other simple way to put it. The autopsy report showed multiple injuries, fractured bones. In addition, she was malnourished. The state of Amari Hall's body is damning evidence, as Celeste Owens and Brittany hindering the location of a body. She had a multitude of charges, and several charges per each of the surviving children for cruelty in the first degree. -And Brittany Hall, who's been charged basically with the same felony murder, the same malice murder, abuse charges, the concealment of evidence, child abuse, but the prosecution decided to try the Celeste Owens case first. -They had separate trials because Brittany, in her second statement to the police, blamed it on Celeste. So that's why the trials had to be severed, split off, because those statements could not be used in Celeste's trial. -So Brittany Hall has not gone to trial yet. She's still incarcerated, awaiting her day in court. -As Celeste Owens' case goes to trial, the prosecution has a clear advantage. -So going in, I think the prosecution had 90% home to a conviction from the start. They had the sympathy because you had children, not just the deceased, but you had children as alleged victims. So that going in tugs at the heartstrings of jurors. You had the flock cameras. You had the surveillance. You had the crime scene photos. You had the U-Haul rental. You had the tracking of the cell phone. So going in, they had a tremendous advantage. -Prosecutor Sabrina Nizam opens with a shocking cell phone video that was actually recorded by Owens herself. It shows her and Brittany Hall abusing the children. It's too disturbing to show here, but for the jury, the impact of that clip was devastating. -I said swallow the food first. Take another bite 'cause she dropped a mashed potato and tried to scoop it out of the carton with a spoon. Then I said stop. She stopped and finally tried to keep going. Keep going after I said stop. So I'll slap her stupid. -Ladies and gentlemen, what you just glimpsed is 90 seconds, just 90 seconds, of the life that eight-year-old Amari Hall, her son, her six-year-old sister, Zaire, and her five-year-old brother, Jakari Hall, live in the care of this defendant. The state will expect the evidence to show you that the young child in the middle, who was slapped so hard that her head swung back, is eight-year-old Amari Hall. -The stakes were very high for this prosecution because you must come home with a conviction on a case like this. Such a tragic and horrific murder. You cannot afford to lose. And so the prosecution, I'm sure, even though it seems like a slam-dunk case, did not want to be cocky. They wanted to, you know, check every box, dot every I, cross every T. -What you will learn is that four months, four months after this video was made, Amari is dead. She is found. -Maken, wrapped in garbage bags, and thrown into the woods. And the evidence was shown by this defendant. -The only thing, concretely, they did not have was direct evidence that Celeste Owens killed Amari. There was no direct evidence of that. It was not even circumstantial evidence, in my opinion. I mean, nobody ever said, "They saw Celeste Owens strangle her, choke her, beat her, and inflicted the fatal blows." -There will not be specific evidence in this case that pinpoints that my client delivered the fatal blow or blows to Amari. I'm going to ask you to hold the state to their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and return a verdict of not guilty, as it pertains to Celeste Owens. -Some of the most powerful testimony in the trial comes from Amari Hall's younger sister, who spoke to police early in the investigation. -Can you say your name and spell it for us? -Zaire, Z-A-I-R-E. -What's your last name? -Hall, H-A-L-L. -Thank you, ma'am. How old are you? -Nine years old. -Obviously, for her protection, she was testifying off-camera rather than being in person in the room. -Now I want you to tell me about a typical day when you lived with your mom and Celeste in the apartment. What would you do then? -Fall never arrives all at once. An old cap finds a new scarf, because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it, finally, feels like fall. -Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college. That's why she shops at BJ's Wholesale Club, saving up to 25% off grocery store prices. Beef jerky, microwave meals, laundry pods, even they can't screw up. -Have you met my kids? -And with BJ's gas, she gets there for less. -They call me the road warrior. -This is your home, road warrior mom. Home of the save. Join for just $20 at BJs.com/save. B-J-S-A-V-E.com/Mosquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. BJ's, home of the save. -I don't know. -Did you watch TV? -No. -Did you play on your phone? -At that time, I didn't have a phone. -Did you play with toys? -We didn't have toys. -What things did you do since you didn't have toys and a phone and a TV? -I looked at the wall, and yeah, that's all I can think of for right now. -Just looked at the wall? -Yeah. -When you lived there, did you get spankings? -Yes. -It's actually quite remarkable that Amari's little sister was able to give the extensive detail that she was able to give, not only to the police, but then again, during trial in her testimony. -Let's talk about where you slept when you lived in the apartment with your sister. -Yeah. -Yeah. -Yeah. -Where did you sleep? -On the floor. -Did you have a pillow? -I don't think so. -Did you have blankets? -Maybe. I don't know. -That's okay. Where did your brother sleep? -On the floor as well. -Where did your sister, Amari, sleep? -On the floor. -Did your brother ever get spankings? -Yes. -Did your sister get spankings? -Yes. -All of these minute details that the younger sister was able to get spankings from, and I think that's really important. -Yeah. -That's really important. -Yeah. -Yeah. -Yeah. -Yeah. Those minute details that the younger sister was able to remember and retell is, again, very remarkable. What a brave young girl who obviously was concerned for her sister's wellbeing and was able to remember all of these very specific details. -Do you remember the last night you saw your sister? -Yes. -My sister went to the bathroom, and when she came out, Whitney told her to open her mouth, and she had toilet paper in her mouth, and the next morning she wouldn't wake up, and yeah. -You wouldn't wake up, okay. What else happened after that? -Next morning, Whitney tried to wake her up, and then after that, she got put in a container with a lid on it. -She put it in the trunk of a car, and drove to the bad kids' hospital. -Who put her in the tub? -Celeste. -Where did you say she took her? -To the bad place hospital, to the bad hospital where kids go. -Have you been to the bad kids' hospital? -Nope. -How do you know that's where Amari went? -Celeste talked about it a lot. -Prosecutors also questioned her. -I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. -She was in the bathroom. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. -I don't remember. First of all, for the most part, the younger the child, the less likely they are to lie. We know that they tend to tell the truth. And further, this is a child who suffered an enormous amount of trauma. And the things that she described are not the things a child would lie about. Toilet paper being shoved in the mouth, the bad kids' hospital, her sister being placed into a container. These are not even things that children can make up. But then, Amari's grandmother, Brittany Hall's mother, takes the stand. And there seems to be a disconnect. that Britney was inflicting corporal punishment on you three kids? - No. - When did you learn that? - When I saw it for the first time. - Ms. Wright, tell me a little bit about Amari. - She was a very vibrant, happy little girl. We loved to play dress-up together. When I would go in the kitchen and cook, she would love to come in the kitchen to see what she was cooking so she could help cook. - Amari's grandmother, Barbara Wright, seems to paint a very different picture of the child Celeste Owens apparently punished for being bad. - While Amari was with you and attending school, did you have any problems with her as far as school? - No. - Were you ever notified by her teachers about any behavioral issues? - No. - Any fights that she had with any other students? - No. - Being disrespectful to her teachers? - No. - Was she ever disrespectful to you? - No. - Was she ever disrespectful to Mr. Wright? - No. - Did she ever wet the bed when she was with you? - No. - No. - Did she have a healthy appetite when she was with you? - Yes. - Did she like to eat? - Yes. She loved Gigi's cooking. - She had hands-on contact with her, never noticed anything, never reported anything, never even reported any concerns. - Now, Ms. Wright, at some point, did Amari, Zaire, and Jakari leave your home? - Yes. - Do you recall around Christmas, around what year that would have been in relation to Amari's death in 2021? - Amari, Jakari, and Zaire had to leave at the end of 2020. Going, yeah, 2020. - They went back to go live with Brittany Hall? - Yes. - Did you want them to leave? - No. - Would they have been able to stay with you? - Yes. - She had really lost contact with them since the start of the year. - Fall never arrives all at once. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf, because you don't simply step into the season, you create it layer by layer until it finally comes. Finally feels like fall. - Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college. - Have you met my kids? - And with BJ's gas, she gets there for less. - They call me the road warrior. - This is your home, road warrior mom. Home of the save. And save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. - Talking now August, when they were living in the motel, and she said that she couldn't locate them. But there was never any police reports made. - Did you ever try calling Brittany to speak with the children? - All the time. - Tell me about how you would try contacting her. - I will call her cell number. I will. Text her. We would try to FaceTime her. There was no response at a lot of the times. And if she did, it would be weeks later. We would drive around from the last place they might have stayed, looking for them. - It mystified me. Child's missing for eight months, and you can't get ahold of them, why you would not have raised the alarm? - During cross-examination, defense attorney Rob Greenwood, presses Amari's grandma on how much she knew about her granddaughter's condition. - To the best of your knowledge, was Amari ever diagnosed with autism? - Not that I know of. - Was she malnourished? - No. - Underweight, in your opinion? - No. - And you don't recall the last time you saw the kids in '21? - No, because we was calling, looking for them. - Okay. - No, no, no. - Were you ever aware that Brittany was inflicting corporal punishment on the three kids? - No. - You saw the video of her stomping on your grandchildren? - No, I saw the video when news people had it on news, when the case, when they found them, and I saw it. Saw them when I went to the courthouse, I saw it. - You weren't aware that your daughter was stomping on them? - No. - It gives you pause and you think, well, why wasn't something said? What was it that you didn't observe? And unfortunately, when you live under the specter of the potential that you're not gonna get to see these kids anymore, sometimes your judgment is clouded because you think, if I say anything, I'll never be in their presence again. It's one hell of a trade off. - If there was any doubt of the extent of Amari's abuse, the medical examiner shows photo after photo of the injury she sustained. It is a lot for the jury to see, and far too much to show here. - There's a lot of stuff here. And so I tried to separate out the injuries as to, this is critical. This is something that this person could die of in and of itself. Here, she died from all of it. - It's not something the average everyday person, and they come into court, sees. I mean, you certainly don't see such graphic images on TV or movies, very graphic testimony, very graphic images that for sure it had an effect on them. - Cause of death, multiple blunt force injuries, other significant conditions, those are things that aren't reflected in the cause, but are also important in her death. And those other conditions were battered child syndrome, malnutrition, and the manner of death, homicide. - Can you define battered child syndrome for the jury? - That is a description to describe multiple wounds in multiple locations, in multiple stages of healing. That is a child who has been abused, with injuries in multiple different areas that happened at different times, so different episodes. - It's really horrific, the injuries that this poor little girl sustained over the course of time, living with these women. So she died, you know, obviously after a very serious trauma, but a prolonged life of abuse, unfortunately. - But there's something even more horrifying about this case. Something the state had revealed at the beginning of the trial. - In Amari's case, and in the case involving her siblings, one of the more disturbing elements is the fact that Celeste videotaped beating these children and abusing them. You've got two dominating adults in the life of these precious children that are completely and totally dependent upon you for their welfare. And not only is it, not enough for you to strike them, you want to have a video record of it. This goes to a much deeper, darker place. - As Celeste Owens' trial draws to a close, jurors are once again faced with the actual videos of the horrors Amari Hall and her siblings endured. - There were over a dozen videos on Celeste's phone of the children being abused. And suffering all types of beatings. How sadistic can that be? It's one thing to do it and it's another to memorialize it in some type of video form. - It's hard to say why someone would videotape the abuse of the children, but in this case, it happened. - Owens had also made some incriminating web searches on her phone. - So I'm going to ask you now to read for the jurors and you don't have to read the date since it's all on November 19th, but at least the time and the search. - How the sewers work on the streets work, why do kids run away? Search again, why do kids run away? Highline, report someone missing. Same search again at 1:16, 11:19, 3:21. What to do if they've gone one day missing. Why is it so hard to find missing people? - Things like what do you do when you're a child refuses to listen? Lakes near me, things like that. Things that really showed consciousness guilt in this case and definitely established that they were involved somehow in this murder of amari it is absolutely fascinating that in this day and age people who commit serious crimes leave a trail of all their thoughts preceding the crime in their internet browser history absolutely fascinating you can literally track everything it's like saying to the police hey in case you wanted more evidence or in case you really didn't understand how i got to this point please check my computer because i'm too tired to draw a map and that's what occurred here hank joined bj's wholesale club the day he became a father of 30. i coach football now coach hank saves up to 25 off grocery store prices 30 pounds of pasta three cases of protein bars 75 sports drinks and that's just pre-game he knows t.v. work and bj's knows savings this is your home coach home of the save join for just 20 dollars at bjs.com mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months open soon limited time offer new members only bj's home of the save this episode is brought to you by txu energy for the first time ever texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings it's called free nights and cool summer you get free nights every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use all summer it's a first of its kind plan created for how texans actually use energy discover how much more you could save with free nights and cool summer txu energy energy for everything visit txu.com for more information rep number one zero zero zero four were all of those searches on november 19th deleted from the defendant's phone material okay by deleting that video and her google searches obviously you're not going to be able to see what's going on in the video video and her google searches obviously you're not going to be able to see what's going on in the video it took two people to kill one it took two people to kill one it took two people to kill one two people to cover up her murder two people to cover up her murder two people to cover up her murder one person who i think one person who i think one person who i think the evidence is clearly established she's the evidence is clearly established she's the evidence is clearly established she's a woman who actually dumped her like a woman who actually dumped her like a woman who actually dumped her like trash and like i said brittany won't have her and like i said brittany won't have her and like i said brittany won't have her day but today day but today day but today it's this defendant's day please remember it's this defendant's day please remember it's this defendant's day please remember shooting right before your eyes shooting right before your eyes shooting right before your eyes the prosecutors uh took uh took the the prosecutors uh took uh took the the prosecutors uh took uh took the case to to heart and yeah every case to to heart and yeah every case to to heart and yeah every everybody was emotionally i would say everybody was emotionally i would say everybody was emotionally i would say uh involved on on their end the police uh involved on on their end the police uh involved on on their end the police prosecution the investigators the family prosecution the investigators the family prosecution the investigators the family of brittany hall of brittany hall of brittany hall very invested so when you say a very invested so when you say a very invested so when you say a mountain to climb yeah we're talking mountain to climb yeah we're talking mountain to climb yeah we're talking himalaya kind of mountains himalaya kind of mountains himalaya kind of mountains i get i get the heartstrings of this case i've got the heartstrings of this case i've got the heartstrings of this case i've got three kids at home three kids at home three kids at home you are to base your verdict in all these you are to base your verdict in all these you are to base your verdict in all these counts counts counts not on the heartstrings not on emotion not on the heartstrings not on emotion not on the heartstrings not on emotion not on sympathy not on sympathy not on sympathy you are to base your verdict on the you are to base your verdict on the you are to base your verdict on the evidence or the lack thereof evidence or the lack thereof evidence or the lack thereof plain and simple there's no direct plain and simple there's no direct plain and simple there's no direct evidence evidence evidence she killed i'm out it was relatively quick as murder it was relatively quick as murder it was relatively quick as murder trials go started monday trials go started monday trials go started monday uh we finished up on uh thursday with uh we finished up on uh thursday with uh we finished up on uh thursday with the jury verdict late in the day the jury verdict late in the day the jury verdict late in the day all right miss owens will you please all right miss owens will you please all right miss owens will you please rise verdict of the jury rise verdict of the jury rise verdict of the jury we the jury find the defendant as we the jury find the defendant as we the jury find the defendant as follows count one malice murder follows count one malice murder follows count one malice murder guilty guilty guilty count two count two count two felony murder felony murder felony murder guilty count three felony murder guilty count three felony murder guilty count three felony murder guilty guilty guilty count four felony murder guilty count four felony murder guilty count four felony murder guilty count five cruelty to children in the count five cruelty to children in the count five cruelty to children in the first degree first degree first degree guilty guilty guilty she was found guilty of everything she was found guilty of everything she was found guilty of everything some charges merged together some charges merged together some charges merged together they were duplicitous they were duplicitous they were duplicitous before sentencing amari's grandmother before sentencing amari's grandmother before sentencing amari's grandmother speaks to the court about her family's speaks to the court about her family's speaks to the court about her family's painful journey painful journey painful journey my heart is broken my heart is broken my heart is broken into millions and millions of pieces into millions and millions of pieces into millions and millions of pieces that i have not been able to put back that i have not been able to put back that i have not been able to put back together together together i miss amari every day i miss amari every day i miss amari every day my granddaughter my granddaughter my granddaughter did not deserve did not deserve did not deserve the way that she was taken out of this the way that she was taken out of this the way that she was taken out of this world world world i would never get to i would never get to i would never get to teach her how to drive teach her how to drive teach her how to drive i would even never get to see her go to i would even never get to see her go to i would even never get to see her go to a prom a prom a prom do the things that grandmom do with do the things that grandmom do with do the things that grandmom do with their granddaughters all these days i'm going to miss with amari with amari with amari they're living with grandmother they're living with grandmother they're living with grandmother both surviving children and they're both surviving children and they're both surviving children and they're supposedly doing very well supposedly doing very well supposedly doing very well with grandmother and grandfather all with grandmother and grandfather all with grandmother and grandfather all right miss owens would you like to all right miss owens would you like to all right miss owens would you like to speak speak speak miss owens please stand i've been a miss owens please stand i've been a miss owens please stand i've been a jurist for 25 years jurist for 25 years jurist for 25 years this is by far this is by far this is by far the most heinous the most heinous the most heinous evil evil evil that i have ever seen in my entire career that i have ever seen in my entire career that i have ever seen in my entire career and i do not understand and i do not understand and i do not understand the crimes and evil that was perpetrated the crimes and evil that was perpetrated the crimes and evil that was perpetrated against these three children against these three children against these three children is something that i will never understand is something that i will never understand nor will I ever forget. Based on that, the court does hereby sentence you as follows: Account 1, malice murder, you are hereby sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. On the remaining counts, the court does hereby sentence you to consecutive 235 years, so life without parole plus 235 years. You will never see the light of day to perpetrate this type of behavior, cruelty, and evilness upon another person. Over the course of my career, I've unfortunately observed many cases of child abuse. Relative to Amari's death, it would rank right up there with the worst that I have seen because her injuries were so extensive. These kinds of cases are the worst of the worst. It's not only an innocent young child who lost her life, a child who lost her life. Who's supposed to be protected by her caretakers, by the women who were supposed to be taking care of her. This case just reflects how difficult it sometimes is to know what's going on behind closed doors and how difficult it is to intervene in a situation of child abuse. It's tough. I'd be honest. I had nightmares before the trial, during the trial, after the trial, and so yeah, it takes a toll on you. It was definitely emotionally challenging. It will stay with me for quite a while. If there's one bit of comfort we can take away from Amari's tragic death, and there's really not a lot, it's that her two siblings were rescued from their abusers, and now they can grow up knowing that they are safe and that they are loved. That's all we have for you here on this episode of Prime Crime. Everybody, thank you so much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber, and as always, stay safe. We'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Jesse Weber. We'll see you next time.