Mom of kids found in freezer faces abuse charges

As the frozen bodies of two of Mitchelle Blair's children were found in a deep freezer at her apartment by an eviction crew, the mother of four was at another apartment — babysitting for a neighbor.

After officers arrived at the Martin Luther King Apartments Tuesday, a woman directed police to the home where Blair was with her two other children.

When police found her, Blair was talking to someone on the phone and was heard telling someone she was about to be arrested and "they're both dead! I did it!" according to police. As she was being handcuffed, Blair told police that she is not evil.

"It was just an evil act," she said, according to police.

Blair, 35, has been charged with four counts of first-degree child abuse and one count of committing first-degree child abuse in the presence of another child. She is expected to be arraigned Thursday.

Autopsies have not been performed, but the children have been identified as Blair's children Stoni Ann Blair and Stephen Gage Berry, the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office announced.

"Once the autopsy results come back and further investigation is done we will be re-evaluating the case for other possible charges," Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said.

Blair admitted to police that she killed her son, then her daughter months later because she believed they had sexually assaulted a child, a person familiar with the investigation said. The source said there is nothing to indicate the child had been sexually assaulted.

According to the Prosecutor's Office, the children who were killed are believed to have been ages 13 and 9 at the time of their deaths. If they were alive, Stoni would be 15 years old today and Stephen would be 11.

The source said there are signs of physical abuse on Blair's son who was killed, including puncture marks.

"The alleged facts in this case present examples of why we must be diligent and involved citizens," Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. "A good way to protect society's children is to be alert and look out [for] your neighborhood youth, refuse to look the other way, and report what you know when necessary. Even though we are issuing these charges today, this tragic case remains under investigation."

Blair's aunt Angela Gordon has temporary custody of Blair's other two children, ages 8 and 17. She said the discovery at Blair's home "was a total shock."

Gordon — a retired Detroit police child abuse investigator — said she was told the son was killed in August 2012 and the daughter in May 2013.

The source familiar with the investigation said Blair's son was found underneath his sister in the freezer. A court officer, who was at the home when the bodies were discovered Tuesday, said that she could see a body in the freezer with a black plastic bag laid on top of it.

Gordon said Blair has been estranged from her family for about two years. Gordon said about 18 months ago, Blair contacted her and asked for help with a gas bill, which Gordon said she paid and then "I never heard from her again."

Gordon said Blair "was very, very strict" with her children.

She said the children had been enrolled in school, but Blair reportedly took them out about two years ago to homeschool them.

Detroit Public Schools, which on Tuesday said none of Blair's children were enrolled in the district, said Wednesday: "We cannot disclose facts that are part of the children's educational record without consent because of privacy laws."

Alexander Dorsey said he has two daughters with Blair. He said his children, whom he hasn't seen in a couple of years, were "good kids."

"They did what their mother told them to do," Dorsey said.

At the time her children were discovered dead, Blair was babysitting an infant in a home near her own in the Martin Luther King Apartments.

Sheri Lanier, 40, said that on Tuesday morning, Blair had asked a friend if she could stay at her place with her children because she was being evicted and didn't want her kids to see it.

Lanier said that once she learned Blair was watching a baby, she quickly went over. Blair, whose two surviving children were with her, acted normal and wasn't agitated when she arrived.

"I knocked on the door, she answered and I got the baby and dropped the baby off at the grandmother's house," Lanier said. "Then I came back around and went and got the police officer." The baby is the child of a Lanier family friend.

There was a crowd nearby when Blair was arrested, Lanier said.

"One of the girls was yelling at her saying, 'Why would you do that?'" Lanier said.

At a news conference Wednesday, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said the case continues to be an active homicide investigation, and he did not take questions from reporters.

"As you can imagine, this is a very complex case," he said.

He said the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office will be performing autopsies within the next couple of days to determine the causes of death for the two children.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday morning it has to let the bodies thaw naturally.

"The bodies are still frozen, so the autopsies are tentatively scheduled for tomorrow," spokesman Ryan Bridges said this morning via e-mail. "Autopsies can't be completed while the bodies are still frozen. We monitor the thawing process while allowing them to thaw naturally so any potential evidence can be preserved."

If the children died shortly before they were put in the freezer, it's likely the injuries will be preserved, said Dr. Werner Spitz, a forensic pathologist and former chief Wayne County medical examiner who isn't involved with this case.

"If they were in any way harmed, like injured, you would probably find that," Spitz said.

But it can take several days for a body to thaw, as it is a delicate process and must be done slowly, he said.

Craig asked for privacy for the two children who were taken into protective custody.

"They've been through a lot," he said, "as you can imagine."

Contact Gina Damron: 313-223-4526 or gdamron@freepress.com Twitter: @ginadamron. Lori Higgins contributed.