EFFORTPOST A mother's dilemma

Childlessness is increasing in developed countries, and contrary to popular belief, not all of these childless individuals wish to be that way. Involuntary childlessness has always existed, but never at the magnitudes we currently experience. A study in Germany surveyed a representative of around 2000 men and women who were of reproductive age. It was found that about 21.5% had no children. The shocking statistic? 80% of those were involuntary.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1741491

With this in mind, it would be safe to say that the miracle of birth is something that should be exalted, and the relationship between a parent and their child should be stronger than steel. Many mothers are this way, and they would lay down their lives for their children. But what happens when a mother believes a child has been harmed and has to make some tough decisions? That's what we'll be exploring next, and it will be up to you to decide whether she made the right choices.

MITCHELLE BLAIR THE MOTHER BEAR

Mitchelle Angela Blair, known as Angel to her friends, had a rough upbringing. As Mitchelle has revealed, she was sexually abused repeatedly by her mother's male friend. When she told her mother, she did not do anything about it. This left her permanently traumatized, and the perpetrator was free to enter and leave the home. She grew up in Detroit and she didn't have much money and very little education. She was struggling, but she always had friends around to help her. People who knew her described her as friendly and generous.

She would go on to have four children. Alexander J. Dorsey was the father of Stoni Blair (2000) and Gabi Blair (1994). Steven Berry was the father of Stephen Berry (2003) and Matthew (2007). Like many African American mothers, she was deserted by the fathers and found herself with four mouths to feed. She struggled to hold down a job and eventually was permanently unemployed, relying solely on welfare. She had her hands full, but she loved her children and did what she had to for them to survive. As a victim of sexual assault, she taught her kids that r*pe is a vile, serious crime and that they should come to her if anyone ever tries to touch them.

Above is a young Mitchelle Blair. In 2012, 33-year-old Mitchelle was dealing with the stress of precarious living when she came upon a shocking discovery that changed her world forever. She found her youngest child, Matthew, playing with his dolls in an odd way, as though they were humping. Mitchelle asked him about it, and Matthew confessed that his older brother, Stephen, did that to him.

Furious, disgusted, and confused, she confronted Stephen. He denied it at first, but eventually, he confessed. Not only was Mitchelle's childhood replaying with her own children, but it was happening between the siblings! Unable to control her rage, Mitchelle beat Stephen up with her fists as Matthew described all the perverted things Stephen did. This includes:

• peeing on Matthew

• Sodomizing Matthew

• Putting his peepee in Matthew's nose and ears

• Ejaculating in Matthew's eyes

• Suffocating Matthew

• Made Matthew drink Windex

Suddenly, so many past events made sense. The times Stephen was sick or had diarrhea, he was being abused! This broke Mitchelle who then decided to punish Stephen. Stephen was locked in a room alone for a week of discipline and punishment as Foucault might say. She choked him out with a plastic bag until he passed out and burned scalding water over his genital area multiple times until his skin came off. During this time, she would find out more about what Stephen did, which only enraged her more. Sometimes, Matthew would egg her on. He wanted justice for what had been done to him.

On August 30, Mitchelle entered the room and found Stephen breathing weakly. The boy complained that he needed to use the bathroom but couldn't do it. The boy went limp and his breathing faded. Mitchelle called Gabi and, while crying, told her to kiss her brother goodbye. The last words Stephen said was “I love you” to his mother.

Mitchelle was broken, for she had never intended for her son to die. Now she had a corpse to deal with and not many options. Her first thought was to turn herself in, but she still had three children to take of. Matthew begged her not to go, so she decided to stay, then she did the unthinkable - put Stephen's corpse in the freezer where he would remain for the next three years.

Nine months passed. The three remaining children knew Stephen was dead in the fridge but they told nobody. Occasionally, people in Mitchelle's life would ask about Stephen but she always had an excuse for why he wasn't around. Mitchelle thought the worst was over, but she was sorely wrong.

Matthew would go on to confess that Stoni was raping him as well and had been continuing to r*pe him during the last nine months. Mitchelle could not handle her rage as Matthew described the abuse:

• Stoni r*ped Stephen first

• They would then have s*x in front of Matthew before raping him

• She would squeeze her period pad into his mouth

• She would face-sit him

• She would starve Matthew

This time around, Mitchelle wasn't aiming for punishment, she was out for blood. After all that had happened, how could Stoni do this?! Mitchelle locked Stoni up in the bedroom where she beat her with a stick for a week. She would choke her out with a plastic bag and pour scalding water on him while she was starved. She placed a hot clothing iron on her back and hit her in the mouth with a hot curling rod. During the two weeks, Stoni would confess that she hated her siblings.

At the end of the week, she was beaten until blood splurted. Gabi witnessed this. Mitchelle then strangled Stoni with a t-shirt until she was limp. The mother then demanded Gabi help her put Stoni in the freezer on top of Stephen. It was then that they discovered that Stoni was still alive. Horrified, Mitchelle then put a plastic bag over Stoni's head to put her out of her misery. When the freezer door closed, Stoni was still breathing weakly. Mitchelle felt no remorse. Stoni was the cause of all of this. She started the r*pe, she continued raping after Stephen died, and she hated her siblings. Stoni may just have been a demon spawn .

Mitchelle, once again, was not willing to hand herself in. She unenrolled her children from school, and whenever people would ask about Stephen or Stoni, she would have an excuse.

She managed to keep this up for three whole years but she soon ran out of money, resulting in her being served with an eviction notice. Mitchelle ignored the eviction notice and decided to stay at a friend's house for a while with Gabi and Matthew. During this time, an eviction crew came to her apartment to clear her belongings. It was then that they opened the freezer and made the horrifying discovery. Police were called and they quickly found Mitchelle who was arrested on a $1 million bond. After assessing her finances, she discovered should could not pay this amount.

The trial that ensued was nothing short of a cacophony of drama. She immediately confessed to the crimes, proudly, and had no problem detailing how she punished Stoni and Stephen. She makes no apologies and claims that she would have done it again to save Matthew. It was an act of love. She is particularly unremorseful about Stoni, and she claims that she “had to go.” She also calls both kids demons.

In court, her attorney stated that she was a caring mother in a difficult situation. She even had their names tattooed on her. Mitchelle, forevermore dedicated to her surviving children, fought for custody but failed on account of her penal incarceration. She had several outbursts during the trial, especially when anyone questioned whether the r*pes occurred. She insisted on a speedy trial and just wanted to be sent to prison. She also insulted the fathers of the children every chance she got. Predictably, she received a lifetime imprisonment.

Do you think she did the right thing? Killed her two male feminist children to save a third?

MITCHELLE BLAIR THE GRIZZLY BEAR

There are always two sides to every story. Mitchelle is entitled to her truth, but it is worth noting that evidence from CPS, coroners, and the surviving children paints a somewhat different story. In this version of events, Mitchelle was a rage-filled, alcoholic mother who neglected her children. She struggled to build a stable life for herself and was far more concerned with partying. The children grew up poor and deprived and on some days they had canned potatoes for all meals.

Mitchelle would fly off in fits of rage for any perceived slight or misdeed. The children had no idea what would set her off, so they always watched their words around her. Anyone who has lived with an angry person or dated one will know this feeling. You're permanently walking on eggshells, and when the inevitable explosion finally happens, you just dissociate until it's over. Then the cycle continues.

Mitchelle was very good at covering up the abuse she was putting her children through. She made them wear clothing that covered their marks and bruises. She hardly let them out of the house and when she did, the children were too terrified to say anything to anyone. At one point, she pulled them all out of school. I can't imagine how forgotten those children must have felt. Nobody came to save them. They were forgotten, and nobody cared what their mother was doing to them.

According to Gabi, Matthew was playing with his dolls and made them hump each other. The mother demanded to know where he learned that, and she demanded to know if Stephen had r*ped him. Matthew repeatedly denied it, but Mitchelle put on the pressure and threatened him until he said yes. Upon receiving the yes, she grabbed an extension cord, wrapped it around Stephen's neck, and lifted him off the ground like that. She took him to the room where the two weeks of torture began.

Above is the bathtub where Stephen would be burned with scalding water. During Stephen's torture, Gabi was helpless to do anything. She was scared stiff of telling anyone out of fear of what her seemingly demonic mother would do to her. She wanted to run away but she couldn't leave her siblings behind. So she held onto the hope that it would end eventually. Gabi claims Stephen was beaten so badly that his head was misshapen. The day before Stephen died, Mitchelle looked upon Stephen and saw that he was in a bad state, so she decided to stop beating him. Unfortunately, he still succumbed to his injuries the next day.

Gabi witnessed her brother's last moments alive, and she saw her mother put him in the freezer. For the next nine months, the children lived with a corpse in the house, and they lived with this harrowing secret. Mitchelle made up a story about Stephen's whereabouts and she drilled into the kids until they could say it perfectly if ever they needed to go outside. The kids seldom left the house, however, because that wouldn't be good for Mitchelle, especially if someone saw their marks and bruises. She continued to receive child welfare checks for him.

Nine months later, when Gabi thought the worst was over, the cycle repeated itself with Stoni. Once again, Mitchelle interrogated Matthew and demanded to know whether he had been r*ped by Stoni. Matthew denied it at first, but after sufficient intimidation from his mother, he eventually gave her the answer she was looking for. With this, Mitchelle took Stoni to a room and locked her in it for her week of torture. Gabi notes how it was worse and more intense with Stoni who was burned, beaten, and starved.

At one point, the apartment was due for an inspection. Gabi was forced to clean the bedroom Stoni was in. It was bloody and filled with vomit and other unspeakables. Gabi cleaned everything and when the inspectors came around, they hid the beaten Stoni under the bed.

On the day of Stoni's death, Gabi watched as Mitchelle beat Stoni on the head with a 2x4 until blood spurted. Mitchelle was gleeful at the sight before she went on to murder Stoni. Gabi feels extreme guilt from this death because Stoni was alive as they put her in the freezer. With Stephen, at least his last moments were of Gabi kissing him. With Stoni, her last moments are of her own mother and sister putting her in a freezer on top of her dead brother. Mitchelle told Gabi to not cry about that b-word.

As we already know, the freezer was eventually discovered, but not before Matthew and Gabi lived three years in a house with their siblings in the freezer. During this time they continued to be abused. Upon the discovery of the freezer, the children were rescued. A coroner's autopsy revealed that Stoni's ears appeared to have been chewed off. Medics who treated the surviving children noted that they had signs of abuse - including quite recent wounds - but there was no evidence of sexual abuse.

During the trial, Mitchelle was condemned, but the courts did not forget about the fathers.

>The record shows Alexander Dorsey, the father of Stoni and Blair's 17-year-old daughter, owes $39,000 and Steven Berry, the father of Stephen and Blair's 8-year-old son, owes more than $12,000.

>According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, Berry spent time in prison on weapons offenses, was paroled in April 2013, and was discharged from parole last year.

You can watch one of the fathers crying here.

The children were adopted by Gordon, a child abuse investigator.

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/03/26/freezer-mom-frozen-bodies-mitchelle-blair/70499754

The case remains divisive, with some arguing that Mitchelle's story has been retold multiple times yet the vivid details remain the same. Others argue that she is a liar besmirching her children even after their deaths. Where do you lie?

CONCLUSION

This is without a doubt one of the most disturbing cases of murderous mothers and it deserves more attention than it has received. It sickened me to my core and yet I couldn't look away. I can't believe what Gabi and Matthew had to go through for three years with their two siblings in the freezer in the apartment, wondering when they would be next. It is equally shocking that Mitchelle was able to hide it for so long. It was purely her inability to pay rent that foiled her plan, which is why this case is a win for landlords.