DETROIT — Before the frozen bodies of two children were discovered in a deep freezer at their Detroit apartment, the siblings suffered horrific abuse at the hands of their mother.
So did their surviving brother and sister, who knew their siblings were in the freezer.
The oldest child was forced by her mother to place her sibling's body in the freezer after she died, a court document revealed.
The children found in the freezer have been identified as Stoni Ann Blair and Stephen Gage Berry, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said. They were believed to be age 13 and 9, respectively, at the time of their deaths.
Their mother, Mitchelle Blair, has been arraigned on child abuse charges and is being held on a $1 million bond due the "heinous" nature of the allegations, Magistrate Renee McDuffee said Thursday. McDuffee entered a not guilty plea on Blair's behalf.
A petition, filed in Wayne County Juvenile Court on Thursday and obtained by the Detroit Free Press, details allegations of severe abuse that led up to Stephen and Stoni's deaths. The causes of their deaths – which could lead to murder charges for Blair – are not yet known. The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office is waiting for their frozen bodies to thaw before performing autopsies.
The petition, which includes information from interviews with both surviving children, alleges that Blair, 35, tortured Stephen in the two weeks before his death by tying a belt around his neck, scalding him with hot water and putting a plastic bag over his head.
On Aug. 30, 2012, when Stephen, then age 9, was found unresponsive, Blair wrapped his body in a bed linen and placed him in the freezer.
About nine months after Stephen was killed, Stoni suffered the same fate – being killed and stuffed in the freezer.
Blair is accused of burning Stoni with a clothing iron, hitting her with a 2-by-4 and striking her with a hot curling iron, causing one of her front teeth to break.
"Her mother refused to provide her with medical treatment," the petition alleges.
Stoni died on May 25, 2013, after an enraged Blair allegedly "strangled Stoni with a black T-shirt and suffocated her with a plastic bag." After the then 13-year-old died, Blair is accused of then making her older daughter "put Stoni in the deep freezer."
The children were found Tuesday by a crew working to evict Blair from the apartment for not paying rent.
Blair admitted she killed the children, telling police she believed they had sexually assaulted a child, a person familiar with the investigation said. There is nothing to indicate the child had been sexually assaulted, the source said.
During her arrest on Tuesday, Blair reportedly said: "They're both dead. I did it," according to police.
The state is seeking to terminate the parental rights of the fathers of Blair's two surviving children, who are now in the care of a family member.
During a juvenile court hearing Thursday – with the Free Press being the only media in attendance – Blair was patched in by phone from the Detroit Detention Center, as the two fathers of her children sat in the courtroom.
According to the petition, the fathers – who both declined to comment after the hearing – hadn't seen their children in years and both owed thousands in child support. Alexander Dorsey, the father of Stoni as well as Blair's 17-year-old daughter, owes $39,000.
Steven Berry, the father of Stephen and Blair's 8-year-old son, owes more than $12,000. According to the petition, Berry spent time in prison for weapons charges.
The petition says each father "failed to protect his children from an unfit home environment where the children were physically abused, tortured, and murdered."
Blair's two surviving children also allegedly suffered abuse, the petition says.
The 8-year-old told officials Tuesday that "he knew his sister and brother were killed and subsequently placed in the freezer."
It also says that the child had 25 scars and injuries on his back "both old and new, as a result of physical abuse by Mitchelle Blair," as well as "numerous loop-shaped scars and injuries" on his body.
"These injuries are consistent with Mitchelle Blair using an extension cord to physically abuse them," the petition says.
According to the petition, medical personnel saw a scar over the left eye of the older daughter. The petition says the teen "has also been beaten with a cord and burned with a clothing iron and has burns on her body that are consistent with that of a clothing iron."
The older daughter told authorities neither she nor her siblings have gone to school in two years.
Children's Protective Services interviewed both fathers on Wednesday.
Dorsey said he last saw his children about two years ago and Stephen Berry said he last saw his children in April 2012, according to the petition.
Both fathers said Blair prevented them from seeing their children. The petition says that when asked by both fathers about their children's whereabouts, Blair told them that the children were visiting their material great aunt, Angela Gordon.
Gordon, a retired Detroit police child abuse investigator, is now caring for the two surviving children. On Wednesday, she described Blair as being "very, very strict" with her children. She said Blair has been estranged from her family for about two years.
This isn't the family's first contact with Children's Protective Services. According to the petition, the family had prior contacts with CPS on Sept. 18, 2002, and Feb. 21, 2005. The details of those investigations are not included in the petition filed today, but it says they "were substantiated."
According to the petition, after the February 2005 complaint, Blair was referred for services.
Blair is expected back in court on April 2 for a probable cause hearing and her preliminary examination is scheduled for April 9.
