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Mom charged with murdering son in 23-year-old DeKalb cold case had prior manslaughter conviction in NC

Teresa Ann Black, previously Teresa Ann Bailey, was found guilty in the Charlotte area of manslaughter and served one year in prison from 1994-1995.

ATLANTA — North Carolina prison records detail Teresa Ann Black being sentenced to prison in 1994 after she was convicted of manslaughter in Mecklenburg County, which covers the Charlotte area.

At the time Black was 17 years old and known as Teresa Ann Bailey. 

Her prison record shows she was convicted in September 1994 as a youthful offender and released from custody in November 1995. 

On Wednesday, the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office announced officers with the Phoenix Police Department in Arizona arrested Black on recently filed felony murder charges. 

RELATED: Mom charged with murder as Georgia boy whose remains were found 23 years ago finally identified

The arrest and charges are connected to the death of Black's 6-year-old boy William DaShawn Hamilton in DeKalb County in 1999.

Credit: DeKalb County District Attorney's Office

According to DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston, Black moved with her son to the Atlanta area in December 1998 from Charlotte. 

Hamilton for 23 years was only known by investigators as Clifton Doe, a reference to his body being found in a wooded area near a cemetery off of the intersection of Clifton Springs and Clifton Church roads. 

On Wednesday 11Alive reported a grand jury in DeKalb County returned an indictment in Black's case in June. According to the indictment she is accused of causing her son's death by giving him "a substance or substances containing Diphenhydramine and Acetaminophen."  

In addition to allegedly giving her child those medicines, the mother is accused of striking him in the head with an unknown object. The indictment also alleges she failed to seek medical treatment for him and concealed his death.

The mother never reported her son missing, nor did anyone else, resulting in the inability to connect the remains found in 1999 to William.

Credit: DeKalb County District Attorney's Office

On Friday a spokeswoman for the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office confirmed their office is aware of Black's previous manslaughter conviction in North Carolina, but deferred questions seeking specifics of the crime to prosecutors in Mecklenburg County.

The District Attorney's Office in Mecklenburg directed questions to the county clerk of courts. That office hasn't yet responded to a request from 11Alive for records related to the manslaughter conviction. 

Black is still in custody in Phoenix. 11Alive's sister station KPNX was at a court hearing in Arizona on Wednesday where she agreed to be extradited back to DeKalb County without objection. 

She is expected to be brought to DeKalb County within 30 days of the Wednesday hearing. 

Based on that hearing the now 45-year-old was described as using a wheelchair and being in a calm demeanor. 

Court records show an arraignment for Black has been scheduled in DeKalb County for August 23.

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