PERRY, Ga. (Court TV) — The Georgia jury tasked with deciding whether a woman is responsible for killing her 2-year-old son said it is deadlocked and unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Kianna Davis wipes away tears while testifying on July 15, 2026. (Court TV)
Kianna Davis, 35, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, second-degree murder and aggravated assault in the death of her son, Karter Ambrose.
Karter died on Nov. 17, 2020, after Davis’ boyfriend rushed him to his pediatrician’s office in dire condition. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. The medical examiner determined that the child’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to his abdomen that caused a laceration on his liver; the injuries, doctors said, were likely inflicted one to three days before his death, when he was solely in the custody of his mother and her boyfriend.
Davis took the stand in her own defense, emphatically denying that she ever hurt her son. She told the jury that she had left Karter in the care of her boyfriend, Kiyon Benton, while she worked as a high school teacher; she denied that Benton would ever have hurt the child.
Jury deliberations began on Wednesday, and issues quickly surfaced in the deliberation room. A note sent to the judge on Wednesday afternoon read, “We have one juror who says she isn’t open to discussion who is combative to the room. What do we do here? She said she will not change her mind in a million years; please advise.”
Within the next hour, another paper arrived from the jury, from a juror who wrote that she’s “being harassed by the foreperson about her note.”
The jury was dismissed for the day and told to return on Friday to resume deliberations; the case was previously scheduled to be out of court on Thursday. When they returned Friday morning, the jurors watched a portion of police dashcam video showing them speaking to the defendant. Within hours, the jury announced it was deadlocked. A message sent to the court revealed that the jury was split on each count.
Count 1: malice murder (3-9)Count 2: felony murder (4-8)Count 3: cruelty to children (9-3)Count 4: felony Murder (1-11)Count 5: aggravated assault (7-5)Count 6: second-degree murder (7-5)Count 7: cruelty to children (11-1)
The judge delivered what’s known as an Allen Charge — telling the jury to go back and try once more to come to a consensus. Before dismissing for lunch, the jury sent another note requesting to watch additional video in the case.
After watching the video and deliberating further, the jury determined it could not reach a verdict; the judge declared a mistrial.
Benton is separately facing charges in Karter’s death and has pleaded not guilty.
