The North Carolina mother who tortured and murdered two of her adopted children could face the death penalty after the children’s partial remains were found in a metal burn barrel in the back of her home.
Siblings Blake and London Deven have not been seen for years, but their adoptive mother, Avantae Deven, never reported them missing.
Deven appeared before District Court Judge Caitlin Evans on Thursday in the Cumberland County Courthouse in Fayeteville, North Carolina. If she is convicted, she could face the death penalty. WRAL News reported.
She was arrested at her home on Berriedale Drive on Wednesday, months after police executed a search warrant at her home, and charged her with first-degree murder, concealment of death, kidnapping and serious child abuse.
She is being held without bail in thand the Cumberland County Detention Center until his next hearing, which is scheduled for July.
The North Carolina mother who tortured and murdered two of her adopted children could face the death penalty after partial remains of the children were found in a metal burn barrel.
Blake Deven is believed to have died after his foster mother horribly tortured him and his sister for years. The photo was taken in 2012. He would have been 17 years old.
London Deven was hungry and abandoned, investigators said. In the photo taken in 2008, she was approximately 12 years old. Now she would be 27 years old.
In April, detectives searched the Deven home, where the brothers allegedly lived, and made the gruesome discovery of the battle of metal burns containing partial human remains.
Investigators believe they had been tortured and physically abused by their adoptive mother for years and revealed the horror the children had to endure in her care.
London Deven, the oldest child, was reported to have been abandoned and starved to death, investigators said.
The children are also believed to be dead. London Deven is believed to be 27 years old and her brother, Blake, 17.
Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West spoke outside the courthouse shocked by the heinous acts.
“The allegations are certainly some of the worst I have seen in the almost 25 years I have been doing this.”
Deven’s defense lawyer said: “I know the allegations cannot be worse. I have full confidence in our judiciary.”
Avantae Deven was the adoptive mother of five children.
Deven leaves the courthouse in Fayetville, North Carolina, after seeing the judge.
Investigators received information about Blake’s disappearance in November 2023, when officers responded to a call about a child living at the home who was attempting suicide, according to a lead investigator on the case.
The boy told police chilling details in which he told them that ‘he hadn’t seen his brother Blake Deven in about five years and the last time he saw him he had a broken arm.’ He later told police that Blake was already dead.
At that time, no missing person report had been filed on Blake, but investigators said Deven filed one after they began investigating.
Upon learning of the inhumane treatment they suffered, the children’s biological mother told WRAL News: “I’m so sorry son, you didn’t deserve this.”
Deven moved to the Fayetville area in 2015 with her elderly mother and five children she had adopted.
Three of the boys were biologically related and two girls were not related to each other or the boys, according to ABC11 News.
The children were interviewed by police and the Department of Social Services (DSS), who shared the horrific and sickening treatment they suffered at the hands of their foster mother.
They also told officials what they believe may have happened to their brothers, Blake and London.
According to the children, they were kept in a small, dark room and given little or no food, and if they wrote letters of apology for their behavior they could earn food.
Sergeant. Jeff Locklear answers questions about the arrest of Avantae Deven in connection with the disappearance of Blake Deven and London Deven
Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden and Sergeant Jeff Locklear answer questions about the arrest of Avantae Deven in connection with the disappearance of Blake Deven and London Deven
Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden discusses the arrest of Avantae Deven in connection with the disappearance of Blake Deven and London Deven.
ABC11 reported that forensic evidence supported investigators’ allegations of torture, starvation and solitary confinement.
According to police, Deven gave authorities different stories to prolong the investigation. One of those tales included that Blake was “possibly at a Buddhist retreat in the mountains,” said Sgt. Jeff Locklear, lead investigator.
In another twisted detail, police said that when DSS arrived at the home for a visit, Deven had a family acquaintance pose as Blake.
Detectives located the person who admitted to participating in the identity theft at Deven’s request.
Speaking to others, investigators learned of other horrific acts of torture, abuse and neglect, including poor hygiene and being forced to use a small plastic container to go to the bathroom for days, weeks or months.
A person who once lived in the home told police that Blake died in 2017 after being tortured for years, starved and neglected until he was unconscious.
Deven refused to get medical help for his son, despite pleas from his other children.
The person told officials that he came up with a plan to hide the boy’s remains until he could decide how to permanently dispose of them, and eventually put them in a burn pit in the backyard.
Deven also told one of the children in his care who at one point left the home that he had to put London in a “mental institution,” according to the documents, when questioned.