Detroit mother charged with the unimaginable | Forensic Files

[Music] the details of this case are very difficult to hear extreme child abuse and child murder are involved this one
won't be for everybody there are far more audio clips the narration in this episode it is a one-off and won't be a
regular thing in the future the courtroom confession is detailed and horrific listener discretion is advised
Colin case number 15 5 6 8 8 1 the people of the state of Michigan versus Michelle Angela Blair miss Blair is
charged in this case count one child abuse first-degree felony life or any time of years
count two child abuse first-degree felony life on each arm of yours how three child abuse first-degree felony
life or any term of years now for Olivia's first degree life run a term of years out five child abuse first-degree
committed in the presence of another child felony life for any term appears state your name please thank you
[Music] this story takes place in Detroit Michigan at Martin Luther King homes a
low-income public housing complex containing 312 units located on st. Aubyn Street at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday
the 24th of march 2015 an eviction crew from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office attended unit 804 in the Martin Luther
King complex the bailiffs were there to evict the tenant Mitchell Blair who lived there with her four children her
two daughters aged 17 and 13 and her two sons aged 2 9 and 8 Mitchell was described as a nice friendly person the
kids were described as polite and respectful sometime around 2012 Mitchell had pulled all four of her kids out of
school opting to home-school them instead it was around 2014 when neighbors started to notice that they
hadn't seen Mitchell's 13 year old daughter Stoney Blair or her 9 year old son Stephen Barry for a while
Michelle explained that they had been spending a lot of time with an auntie and that when they were back at home
they didn't really like going out and being around people they preferred the stayin side Michelle had been living at
a unit for the last ten years she was unemployed receiving a government benefit she had money issues and she
hadn't paid her rent that's why she was being evicted she owed two thousand two hundred and
six dollars Michele knew she was getting evicted she had been served the notice and had seen
the dumpsters delivered out the front where the eviction crew planned to throw all of the stuff Michele didn't really
want to be there when the eviction crew arrived so she arranged to stay with a friend who also lived in the same
housing complex she took her eldest daughter and her youngest son with her to her friend's
house explaining that her other two children were with their art the eviction crew arrived and knocked on
Michele's door they got no answer so they forced entry and started the eviction process they were met with the
disgraceful mess of a unit with rubbish and food scraps all over the floor items
of clothing and other junk thrown around everywhere the conditions were described is barely
livable the eviction crew got to work clearing out the furniture of the house and they came across a chest freezer
they opened it up to see what was inside 11:37 3 singing sweetie call officer sandy Bayliss who was in this complex
among the uniforms conducting an eviction and it was during that eviction process that they discovered two young
children and freezing further investigation revealed that appeared to be to a male that we're
saying is approximately 11 years old female 14 years old inside of the plastic bag
appeared to be frozen the eviction crew opened the chest freezer and located the
frozen body of Michelle's 13 year old daughter Stoney Blair that's when they called 9-1-1
it wasn't at all shortly after that they realized there was a second body underneath Michels a nine year old son
Stephen Barry Mitchell Blair was also known by her nickname angel described as a nice friendly person by her neighbors
her facebook profile read loyal to my babies and there is no greater blessing than being called alone
Michelle Blair had some serious questions to answer and it didn't take long for police to catch up with it
we were fortunate yesterday that a member of our community stopped our investigators and led us to the location
where we found and arrested the mother of the two children found dead in her apartment
our homicide team continues to work diligently to bring some closure to both family and their friends the medical
examiner will be performing autopsies in the next day and at that time we will know the cause of death of these two
children as you can imagine this is a very complex case while we all understand your desire and desire to
know more about what happened in the home I will ask you to be mindful of the two children who are also in the home
they're still alive the two surviving children were taken into protective custody while police got to work trying
to find out what happened a background check showed that between the years 2002 and 2005 Michele Blair
had been investigated on two separate occasions for allegations of child abuse the abuse claims were substantiated her
punishment was counseling she was early advocate custody of her children as part
of the investigation Michele surviving children were interviewed what they detailed was a
real-life house of horrors both of them were physically beaten by Mitchell they were regularly whipped with an
extension cord and hit with a piece of wood both had also been burnt with annoyin at
the time nail taken by child services both kids had numerous scars and injuries her son had 25 different scars
on his back alone there was clear medical evidence to back up their story that they were the
victims of prolonged physical abuse from their mother Mitchell was initially only
charged with child abuse this was because the police had to wait for the results of the autopsy to determine
exactly how the children died and the autopsy was delayed as they had to only on the bodies the thoria before it could
be conducted Michele was arraigned two days later Thursday the 26th of March she was charged with ball counts of
first degree child abuse which is punishable by 15 years in prison she was also charged with one count of
committing child abuse in the first degree in the presence of another child that carries a life sentence
her bond was set at 1 million dollars within a week the autopsy's had been completed the conclusion there was no
deal Stoney Blair and Stephen berry had been murdered Michelle's charges were upgraded to two
counts of felony murder two counts of premeditated murder at one can of torture Stephen Berry was killed around the 30th
of August 2012 Stoney Blair was killed about nine months later in May 2013 both had been left in the freezer until the
eviction crew found them in March 2015 how didn't anybody notice Stoney and Stephen missing well some neighbors did
notice that they hadn't seen them for a while but when they asked the question they believe Michelle's story that they
spent a lot of time with an art and when they were home they didn't like to go outside no alarm bells were raised at
school because they didn't go there in the first place their fathers hadn't seen them for several years so they
didn't notice either sadly Stoney and Stephen were able to go missing for two years and nobody did anything other than
ask a passing question as the way they were nobody asked any real questions or looked closely at all they took in a
fiction crew to follow them in the freezer before anybody realized that were really gone
and the whole time the kids were in the freezer which I'll continued to accept government benefits for them Michele was
subjected to numerous evaluations by doctors and psychiatrists to make sure she was competent to stand trial and
that she could be held criminally responsible for her actions but material didn't want to wait for those reports
she just wanted to plead guilty she tried numerous times to plead guilty and have the matter finalized but the
court would no way out straight away court needed to make sure everything was done properly
they had possible future Appeals in mind they wouldn't accept the plea until all
doctors evaluations were officially on record it's my understanding to get a trial it's the kids who the truth right
I'm already saying that I did it I'm really giving myself and expecting life in prison I'm already giving myself to
you like hey I did this what's the problem and I'm not gonna come back like I didn't use down my rights and I'm not
a coward you know what I'm saying I don't have that second report from dr. tscheiner yet okay
the forensics one is not good enough no that's why we were we requested an independent - okay now my understanding
is that his evaluation is complete but we just don't have it yet these are some very serious charges and
various understand all of y'all give me a baby's mouth give me another - I professed three times not stop saying
what I need do you get what I'm saying I understand these are very serious charges with very serious consequences
if you were to plead guilty to a first-degree murder charge that is life in prison without the possibility of
parole I notice I'm happily fan life in prison you have everything I will take that I
don't care that's my baby period I'm not gonna change my mind I'm not changing anything I don't need the
week to think about it when all doctors reports were eventually placed onto the record the court made a
ruling that Mitchell was competent to stand trial and she could be held criminally
responsible for her actions as such if chanel wanted to play guilty the court would accept it Michelle wasn't insane
she knew exactly what she was doing and understood the consequences of her actions
Michelle pled guilty straightaway during her guilty plea she described the how and why of what she did just the warning
the following clip is very graphic in detail it may not be suitable for all listeners all right no matter we're here
today because you better get to the beam want to plead guilty to two of the counts that are identified in the
information as much of today's proceeding will be a dialogue between me and you the first thing I'm going to do
is really do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give today will be the truth yes
thank you what is your name ma'am you know Blair miss Blair how old are you 36 are you
United face it enough yes okay so the information I have before me is that you want to be guilty to cop to the
premeditated murder of Stoney Blair yes count 3 the felony murder of Stephen Barry yes
am I correct that you want to see guilty to those counts yes do 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 or both cases understand you understand Michigan does not have a dump I do now
what did you do thus Tony Blair that makes you guilty she raped my son I intentionally killed
her how did you do that um started from the game when I found out about what Stoney was doing to Matthew there was
nine months later after finding out about Stephen so for the whole nine months we were in the house she was
still raping my child didn't I know that when I first found out after Matt he told me um I took a minute because I
it's not understanding you know that she did that to him but um I repeatedly punched her on many occasions my son I
told him to tell me every single thing she did to him so as she was telling me he was telling me more and more things
that she did I thought that hour every time he told me what she did to him um I thought I mean I punched her I have put
a bag over her head so she lost consciousness um I threw hot water on her scalding hot
water from the faucet yes I hit her in her head multiple times over and over that was actually dead before she died
and the day she died okay um I hit on her back it's like why the tailbone I kicked her
okay just fine clarify things and perhaps you don't know but did this happen on or about May May 2015 stash Li the
day she died well the day I killed her and you said you killed her bite yes um that day
Maddie would tell me different things cuz he was doing this to him for years I did not know that you get what I'm
saying and I didn't find out when I was later she had started with Stephen she ruined it my son okay she started with
Stephen before he even started so yes I put a bag over her head but on it got worse that day yes I did it got worse
that day because Matthew would tell me how she would take her pad her minstrel pad and squeeze her blood out in his
mouth okay and it was just it was over went after that it was all the way he I definitely meant to kill her was intact
no not at all if I had a chance to do it again I would when you wouldn't got the
grocery bag and suffocated her that was Georgia yes um she was standing in the bathtub I was
still my hot water on her my son was standing to my right outside the bathroom door
and he was telling me everything he was funny I looked at her and I'm like you did this and she was like yes so I
actually had a stick and I was hitting her in the head every time he told me something I hit her very hard in her
head and I was throwing hot water on her and when I actually took her out of the
bathroom I still got back in her room and I just kept staring at her and I said she's my
language by my lot of doing this to him just like you know I'm constantly asked her she kept saying I hate him I'm like
hate him you know and she admitted to me that she hate got real shame she had everybody
and I'm asking her why she says they everybody always think Matthew so cute and I'm like so you [ __ ] your brother
because you get what I'm saying so is I meant to I definitely meant to and I do not feel any remorse for what I did to
Sony because she had no remorse what she did to my son it's not only Laketown she gang raped
him with Stephen Matthew Ross sitting on the floor and he was telling me this heart out about both of them doing it
together it was too late Stephen was gone but Matthew told me that Stoney would actually make him sit
there why and his words him miss Tony her and Stoney did the nasty stuff and then they did it to him and now they're
definitely okay where did that happen what we're doing good not for actual death yes all right
the location of the house where did you live at the time Oh 8:04 cent on the street yes did you ever actually see
anything of any sexual abuse of any time between either Stephen and stony I reject her question but I will answer it
because no one will say this did not happen because they'd actually be I just want to have a clear record okay so far
all you told me was that you just heard it did you ever get they intimated no I did not get what I'm saying yeah no but
as I went back in my head and thought back to all the many things that was wrong with Matthew over the years and
I'm like that's what was wrong with you he'll use the bathroom say mom my foot hurts my poop Oh Matthew so I started
giving him 100% juice to make his stool softer maybe to help him use but if that
wasn't the problem it wasn't your stool it was that he was being raped okay my son looked me in my
eyes and he gave me a very detailed talk everything they did Matthew was not a violent boy he is a very sweet little
boy so for him to stand there and look at me and say do it again he was hurting you know okay at a certain point I've
told him to stop talking I said stony you tell me what [ __ ] you did to my son that's that Matthew if she's saying
thing it's not right tell me she started telling many things many things and I also asked her so why didn't Steven tell
me that when I asked him did anybody do this to him why didn't he tell me that you did Sam because Sony was going
upstairs beating Steven's ass threatening him basically and a certain point after I
was hitting Steven I didn't want to look at him I didn't want to I didn't want to
look at him so I told him to go see his mom when it came time to eat I didn't want to take my food up so I say
Sonia because she volunteered not knowing at that time the story was breaking either of them but every time
she went upstairs I wouldn't have known if she hit him not because I had put many bruises on him so every time she
went upstairs she admitted to me that she was hitting him also knocking the hell out of him tell him you bet not
telling nothing forget what I'm saying I understand when she admitted these things to you were you always being the
first time no we was sitting there she denied it denied it denied it cos to me I'm like stony you better tell me the
truth Matthew sitting here he'll know nothing about but he constantly you get what I'm saying
who would admit that who would admit that they didn't I do it basically the same thing
next to a question first the people standing behind me this woman would just ask the question is she trying to make
it seem like this did not happen no no we just have to have a clear record okay all we're trying to do is
just make sure right now this is just you choosing to plead guilty but people do not have any
agreement yeah because you know it's like I'm willing to take a polygraph test it's like because I understand
people don't want to hear me period but I'm gonna get on everything you tell me what happened to Stephen um
I came home one day my daughter Gabrielle my oldest met me at the door she's like mom come see the man he doing
with his dolls and I'm like what is he doing he was making one dial his little restaurant man hop on top the other no
I'm like Maddie why was you doing that I said anybody ever doing this to you he said no I said then why are you doing
that and he said yes Stephen did and I was like so this is the first I'm hearing about that period this was nine
months before Stoney okay Stoney wasn't downstairs and I she was always in the background I wish to God I had
questioned everybody together but I did know this was before August August artist when he died this was maybe a
week or we can have before yes yes I went upstairs because something was upstairs in him his and Matthews mom and
I went upstairs downstairs Stephen Matthew said she was humping on him and a Steven stood up and he looked at me
and right then I could tell I could tell something was wrong in his face cuz he was just like this ain't normal kid I
know my kid would have been like what that's not what he did he stood up and looked at me like he lost his mind okay
and it's just hearing that from him had [ __ ] up in my head period but I asked myself Stephen tell me the [ __ ] truth
well she hung on matches he said yes but that was all and I said did you hump on
him with your underwear off he said no Matthew yelled out yes he did and I just remember going in a hallway
walking back and forth flight and I walk back brother you [ __ ] your brother so I'm looking
at them to one look at them like what I can't understand so I started punching Steve me you know I'm like [ __ ]
throwing at him I just I just start asking him questions Matthew at this point is just billing
out he's just pulling out and mom and he's doing like this and you do this thing almost every night he tell me how
he was it he's not put back over Stephens head because if he had Maddie I thought Maddie Peter bed my son was
never a bad winner didn't know it was Stephen waking up every morning picking on Matthew like he was a damn piece of
[ __ ] okay they had bunk beds Stephen would get off the bed in the middle of night you'll break him in his own bed
you pee on him I started going to the bathroom I'm waking up every morning thinking Matthew's the bed wetter so we
just wash him up and going you know bear wonder like so what you did the reason I
put bags on the Stephens head because my son told me that the plastic on his bed
because I thought he was a bad water it's that sometimes mom I couldn't breathe Stephen was laying on me and he had my
face down in the plastic on the bed I couldn't breathe he was humping on my butt like basketball fast when I got
garbage bag and start putting it over Stephens head and I started asking him [ __ ] you're gonna shoot this feel like
you can't breathe he's pumping like that's my son you could not breathe on top of getting ready he was six years
old at the time you get on Sam so I put a bag over his head she lost consciousness I did that a couple of
times uh-huh he tell me then Neffe Maddie would be facedown he had stuff around his neck so I grabbed Stephen I grabbed
your belt and I put a belt around his neck and I lifted him up like do you like how this feels me a trunk for the
belt so I dropped him I held him up until he lost consciousness it swam no I did not intend to kill Stephen no I'm
not my question you weren't uneasy didn't look it's your serious physical harm but not killing
definitely did you also punch him yes I did most of the time yes yes I did you talked about
choking him did you also burn yes I did okay how did you do that hot water scalding hot water okay again you knew
you were seriously harming him but you didn't intend to murder no but your actions ultimately cost yesterday were
you Stephens mother yes using your custody I don't claim him as my son I do not claim Tony as my
daughter I have two children that state came and phone away or Damien's period this is my question at the time he died
he was in your custody of care yes how old Stephen was nine and again this happen in your house in the city of
Detroit yes what you did to Stephen was punishment for what you did to Maddie is
that right or what he did sin many stars for what Stephen did yes that was punishment and if I had killed Stephen
intentionally I definitely will be proud to say I did you weren't allowing them to treat your other children like this
for you what do you mean you weren't allowing them to sexually assault no I wasn't allowing that I never knew that
took the girl but I'm saying that's exactly what I want to know you didn't know until afterwards so man I don't
regret none of this I don't regret any of it Matthew was my son that's my baby there's no way the his brother his first
fish you know what he feels like I'm inside in no way I don't feel no remorse for the death of them demons okay all
right why it's we unless either counsels dissatisfied with the testimony that was just
provided by miss Boyer I believe there was a sufficient factual basis to accept the city at this point
her claims that both Stoney and Stephen were sexually assaulting her youngest son were never substantiated the reason
she says she reacted so violently was that she herself was sexually assaulted which she was younger she reported the
assault to her mum and her mum failed to do anything of the other her mother's failure to protect her affected her for
the rest of her life it led her to tell her own kids that if anybody ever touched them to tell her about us
straight away so she could do something when a youngest son reported to her that
he was assaulted by staying in Stephen she reacted Alexandre Dorsey was the father of Stoney Blair and the surviving
17 year old girl he hadn't seen either of his children for two years prior he says that Mitchell barred him from the
home he had a prior criminal history and he actually owned thirty nine thousand dollars in child support
it was Dean that he failed to protect the children from an unfit home environment when the children were
physically abused tortured and murdered he was not only out custody of his surviving daughter
Stephen berry senior was the father of Stephen berry and to the surviving eight-year-old boy he last saw his
children three years prior he also says that Michelle prevented him from seeing them he owed ten thousand dollars in
child support payments he also had a criminal record and it was also deemed that he neglected to protect his
children from an abusive environment he was not awarded custody either both surviving children lived in absolute
terror and will need extensive trauma therapy and counseling the eight-year-old boy was displaying
problems with his neurological development due to the horror he experienced every day although Alexander
Dorsey was not awarded custody unlike Stephen Barry senior he actually retained his parental right and the
judge did this for good reason if he removed or seized parental right then his daughter would only qualify for
services until she was 19 years old but by keeping dorsey's parental right intact she qualifies for services until
she is 20 by services they're talking about helping her go to college classes to teach her to live independently and
obviously therapy the court ruled it would be in her best interest to qualify for these services for an extra year she
mentioned that she wanted to go to college and become a veterinarian the judge said it would be totally up to her
what sort of relationship if any she wanted to have with Dorsey Michelle Blair's parental rights to her two
surviving children were terminated she was sentenced on the 17th of July 2015 you this will happen to you when
you're a child you had the opportunity grow up truth you had the opportunity to become an adult you had the opportunity
to make your own decisions with respect to running your own life and you even have to look for children
store needs even are never going to have yet they don't have those same opportunities and when I think about all
of the possible joys that they could be missing out on one thing that strikes me
is the greatest tragedy here is that they will never know what a life is like without experience and fearing them they
will never know the joy of what could have been in their life without having you in it they lived in terrible fear of
you and I find that just so sad in this case after all once I'm done you'll impose the death penalty on your own
children I did and you readily admit it and if you want to take responsibility of it you're there for sentence for the
Michigan Department of Corrections for the rest of your life without possibility of parole
meaning of course that you will never get out [Music]

Case 20: Stoni Blair and Stephen Berry

The details of this case are extremely difficult to hear. Extreme child abuse and child murder are involved. This episode won't be for everybody. There is far more courtroom audio then narration. It is a one-off for this episode. It is not something that will be a regular feature in the future. The courtroom confession is detailed and horrific. Listener discretion is advised...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-20-stoni-blair-and-stephen-berry

Brief Summary

Michelle Blair murdered her children, Stoney and Stephen, and was sentenced to life in prison after horrific abuse revelations.

Key points

The Horrific Discovery. During an eviction, two frozen bodies were found in a chest freezer.
Michelle's Charges. Michelle Blair faces multiple charges including child abuse and murder.
A Mother's Confession. Michelle Blair pleads guilty, revealing the chilling details of her actions.
A Mother's Admission. The mother admits to harming her son, claiming it was punishment for his actions.
The Tragic Reality. The judge reflects on the lost opportunities of the children due to their mother's actions.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There are far more audio clips in this episode.

Teasing the depth of the episode's content.

0:24WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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