The two surviving siblings of two children found dead in a freezer have come forward to tell their stories of trauma and abuse.
The stories come after the deaths of Stoni Blair, 13, and Stephen Berry, 9, were ruled homicides, meaning their mother, Mitchelle Blair, 35, may be charged for homicide in addition to the child abuse charges already set before her.
Both children had been beaten with a piece of wood and extension cord as well as hit with a hot iron.
The two children, a 17-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, knew that their siblings had been killed, and the daughter even revealed that her mother had forced her to put her sister’s body in the freezer.
“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 daughter said.
Blair told police that she had placed Stephen “in a boiling hot tub of water until his feet blistered” for allegedly sexually assaulting a relative. After his death, she wrapped him “in his favorite blanket” and placed him in the freezer.
According to police reports, Blair killed Stoni nine months later when she said that she did not like her siblings. Blair strangled her with a tee shirt and wrapped her head in a plastic bag, after which point she had the 17-year-old place the body in the freezer.
The surviving brother also said that he knew his siblings had been killed and that they were in the freezer.
The two fathers of the surviving children have been declared unfit to take care, owing together around $50,000 in child support. The Michigan Department of Human Services is working to take steps to end Blair’s right to custody over the children. In the meantime, they are both living with a relative.
“While we all understand the desire to know what happened in that home is strong, I will ask you to be mindful of the two children who were also in that home and are still living,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig told reporters Wednesday.
“They’ve been through a lot, a tremendous trauma.”
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