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Detroit woman says she killed children to stop abuse

As was reported by Digital Journal on March 24, the then-unnamed woman was arrested after court officers went to the apartment complex east of downtown Detroit to serve her with an eviction notice. It was then police found the bodies of two children wrapped in a plastic bag in a chest freezer in the family’s living room.

On Thursday, details emerged that showed the four Blair children had suffered extreme abuse by their mother, Mitchelle Blair, a 10th grade drop-out who couldn’t hold a job and lived on welfare, her friends and family. Family members say it got to the point that Blair cut off all contact with her family.

But the worst part of this story is that for the past year or so, the 8-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl lived with the horrible family secret, sitting in their living room. A great-aunt, Angela Gordon, is now caring for them. Gordon, who is a retired Detroit police child abuse investigator, said, “Pray for them. They saw things nobody should ever have to see. I have no idea what it was like for them to live with those bodies all that time. I can’t even imagine.”

Blair admitted to police she killed her nine-year-old son Stephen Berry and 13-year-old Stoni Blair after she discovered they had been molesting a young relative, say sources close to the investigation, according to the Detroit news.

Blair, 35, was arraigned this morning in Detroit’s 36th District Court. She was charged with four counts of first-degree child abuse, a 15-year felony; and one count of committing child abuse first-degree in the presence of another child, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. Prosecutors are awaiting autopsy results, but Blair could also be facing murder charges. Bail was set at $1.0 million. An attorney is not yet assigned to the case.

In a court filing, the prosecutor’s office quoted the surviving 17-year-old as saying she and her brother “lived in a house of horrors where she and her 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 9-year-old 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. When Blair discovered Stephen “unresponsive” on August 20, 2012, she wrapped him in a bed sheet and put him in the freezer.

It was nine months later that Blair became “enraged” when Stoni, the 13-year-old, said she didn’t like her siblings. Blair strangled Stoni with a T-shirt and suffocated her with a plastic bag. Blair then made the teen “put Stoni in the deep freezer following her death,” according to the court filing.

The state said it has investigated “allegations” of child abuse against Blair in 2002 and 2005. In both cases she was referred for counseling. The two different fathers of the children are both unfit to be parents. Between them, they owe $50,000 in back child support and haven’t seen the two surviving children in almost three years.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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