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FILING:
Teen
says mom
killed
her
siblings
fond in
freezer
By COREY
WILLIAMS
and ED
WHITE
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- A
teenager
told
authorities
that her
mother
killed
two
siblings
and
forced
her to
put one
of the
bodies
in the
freezer
of their
Detroit
home
where
both
were
found by
an
eviction
crew.
Details
of death
and
extreme
abuse
emerged
Thursday
as
Mitchelle
Blair
appeared
in
court,
two days
after
the
bodies
of a
9-year-old
son,
Stephen
Berry,
and
13-year-old
daughter,
Stoni
Blair,
were
discovered.
Blair,
35, is
charged
with
child
abuse,
but she
could
face
murder
charges
when the
bodies
thaw and
autopsies
are
performed,
prosecutors
said.
Bond was
set at
$1
million.
An
attorney
hasn't
been
assigned.
The
Michigan
Department
of Human
Services
is
taking
steps to
end
Blair's
rights
to two
other
children,
a
17-year-old
daughter
and an
8-year-old
son. In
a court
filing,
the
state
said the
teen
described
a house
of
horror,
where
she and
her
surviving
brother
were
beaten
with an
extension
cord and
piece of
wood,
hit with
a hot
curling
iron and
burned
with a
clothing
iron.
"Blair
tortured
Stephen
for
approximately
two
weeks
prior to
his
death by
tying a
belt
around
his
neck,
throwing
hot
water on
him
while in
the
shower
and
putting
a
plastic
bag over
his
head,"
the
state
said,
quoting
the
17-year-old.
Stephen
was
"unresponsive"
on Aug.
30,
2012,
and
Blair
wrapped
his body
in bed
linen
and put
him in
the
freezer,
the
state
said.
Nine
months
later,
Blair
became
"enraged"
when
Stoni
said she
didn't
like her
surviving
siblings
and
strangled
the girl
with a
T-shirt
and
suffocated
her with
a
plastic
bag, the
department
said.
Blair
then
made the
teen
"put
Stoni in
the deep
freezer
following
her
death,"
the
agency
said.
The
8-year-old
boy also
was
aware
that his
sister
and
brother
were
killed
and
subsequently
placed
in the
freezer,
the
department
said.
Medical
exams
revealed
evidence
of
abuse,
including
numerous
scars,
on the
children.
The
teenager
said
neither
she nor
her
siblings
have
attended
school
for two
years.
Earlier
Thursday,
Blair
appeared
in court
on child
abuse
charges
via a
video
feed
from a
police
lockup.
Magistrate
Renee
McDuffee
entered
a
not-guilty
plea on
her
behalf.
"The
charges
in this
matter
are so
heinous,"
McDuffee
said in
explaining
the $1
million
bond.
The
state
said it
investigated
allegations
of abuse
in 2002
and
2005.
Blair
was
referred
to
counseling.
The
state
said the
two
fathers
of
Blair's
surviving
children
are
unfit to
care for
them.
Together
they owe
$50,000
in child
support
and
haven't
seen the
kids in
two to
three
years.
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