Mom pleads guilty, 'no remorse' for kids' deaths

A Detroit woman said she didn't mean to kill her son but intentionally killed her daughter, then she told a judge that she doesn't "regret any of it."

Mitchelle Blair pleaded guilty to murder today in the deaths of two of her children — 13-year-old Stoni Blair and 9-year-old Stephen Berry — whose bodies were discovered in a deep freezer at the family's home in March.

"I don't feel no remorse for the death of them demons," she said.

REPLAY: Read reporter Elisha Anderson's tweets from court

During the hearing in Wayne County Circuit Court, Blair, 36, recounted details of abuse her kids faced prior to their deaths.

She admitted she punched Stoni, put a bag over her head until she lost consciousness, threw scalding water on her, hit her on the head "over and over" and kicked her.

"I definitely meant to kill her," Blair said. "If I had a chance to do it again, I would."

She said she did not mean to kill Stephen but knows her actions caused his death.

Blair said she kicked him, punched him, made him drink Windex, burned him with hot water in his genital area, lifted him with a belt around his neck and put a bag over his head causing him to lose consciousness.

"His skin came off," she said of the injuries caused by burning him.

Blair, a mother of four, said she believes Stephen and Stoni abused another one of her children. She maintained she was punishing Stephen for that and knew she was seriously harming him.

Blair said she doesn't claim Stephen as her son nor Stoni as her daughter anymore.

"I have two children, that's it," Blair said. "Stephen and Stoni are demons, period."

Blair was charged with 17 counts, including felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, torture and first-degree child abuse.

She pleaded guilty today to first-degree murder in the death of Stoni and felony murder in the death of Stephen and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when she is sentenced July 17.

"You understand that if I accept a guilty plea, you'll be subject to a mandatory sentence of life in the Michigan Department of Corrections without the possibility of parole?" Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway asked.

"I understand," Blair replied, adding that it was her choice to enter the plea.

Blair was found competent to stand trial by the state forensic center, as well as in an independent psychiatric examination.

Her attorney, Wyatt Harris, said he discussed the plea with Blair at least three times.

After the hearing ended, Harris said he anticipates the rest of the charges to be dismissed at sentencing.

Legal experts say it's very uncommon for a person to plead guilty to a life offense, forgoing a trial like Blair chose to do.

The bodies of Stoni and Stephen were discovered in a freezer kept in the family's living room at the Martin Luther King Apartments by a crew working to evict Blair on March 24.

Blair's other two children, an 8-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter, are the care of a relative.

Authorities said Stephen was killed in 2012 and about nine months later, in 2013, Stoni suffered the same fate.

Stephen died from multiple blunt trauma and thermal injuries, and Stoni died of blunt trauma to the head, according to Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office. Both had been beaten, burned and were severely malnourished.

Blair said that she never starved Stephen but admitted starving Stoni.

"Oatmeal is all that girl got, and she's lucky she got that once a day," Blair said. "She's very lucky she got that."

She said she was going to turn herself in to police after Stephen's death, but her other son told her, "I don't want you to go."

At that point, she put Stephen's body in the freezer and decided she was going to stay with her children as long as possible, Blair said.

Officials said Blair severely abused all four of her children.

According to a court document, she forced her oldest child to put Stoni's body in the freezer. The 17-year-old had been hit with a 2x4, burned with a clothing iron and punched in the face, and the 8-year-old had scars and injuries on his back from abuse, a petition filed in a separate child protective proceeding said.

In that case, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is seeking to terminate Blair's parental rights, as well as the parental rights of their fathers, Steven Berry and Alexander Dorsey, saying they "failed to protect" their children.

Both fathers are fighting to keep their rights, and closing arguments in the case are scheduled to take place in that case Tuesday.

Contact Elisha Anderson: 313-222-5144, eanderson@freepress.com or on Twitter: @elishaanderson