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Hall investigators testify teen smothered her newborn
Clark, 17, appeared this morning for preliminary hearing on murder charge
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Investigators say that a South Hall teenager admitted to smothering her 9-day-old daughter “until she stopped breathing.”Haley Brook Clark, 17, made an appearance Friday morning in Hall County Magistrate Court for her preliminary hearing, facing murder charges for the death of her newborn daughter, Olivia Clark.According to Hall County Sheriff’s Office investigator Jason Egerton, who took the witness stand Friday morning, Clark admitted to him, as well as other family members, that she suffocated Olivia while feeding her July 18.According to Egerton, during the feeding, Olivia was spitting up “a large amount” of milk and began crying. Clark, he said, then covered the child’s mouth and nose with her hand “until (Olivia) stopped breathing.”He said Clark then found her younger brother, who was the only other person in the house at the time, and he called their mother. Clark’s brother dialed 911 per their mother’s orders.Egerton said the medical examiner confirmed the account, determining the cause of death to be suffocation.