'Isolation, torture and starvation': Adoptive Fayetteville mom charged with murder of two kids

The adoptive mother of Blake and London Deven, both of whom have been missing for years from Fayetteville, was arrested Wednesday on several charges including two counts of murder after human remains were identified last week as London, officials announced Wednesday.

Avantae Deven, 63, was booked into the Cumberland County jail at 2:05 p.m. on two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury, two counts of disturbing of a body/remove, conceal an unnatural death and at least one count of kidnapping.

At a 2:30 p.m. news conference, Homicide Sgt. Jeff Locklear said investigators uncovered evidence that suggests both London and Blake died of starvation and neglect and their bodies were dismembered and burned with the help of another person. That person's name was not released.

He said two sets of human remains — one set belonging to a male between the ages of 7 and 10 and the other set belonging to a female between the ages of 15 and 19 — were found in a metal burn barrel on an Autryville property connected in some way to the family. Last week one set of remains was positively identified as belonging to London, he said. The other set has not yet been positively identified.

Officials first learned Blake was missing in November when another family member, presumably one of Avantae Deven's five adopted children, suffered a mental health crisis, Locklear said.

"(He) told authorities he had not seen his brother Blake in five years, and that the last time he had seen him he had a broken arm and that he's now dead," Locklear said.

The 911 call for the November incident was made by a child who said his brother was bullying him and the caller was threatening to harm himself.

"In multiple interviews, information was provided detailing appalling conditions at least three of these children apparently grew up in," Locklear said. "Avantae Deven is said to have kept them ... in small rooms, in complete darkness at times. They were given little ... or no food and could earn nourishment by quote 'doing paperwork.' That means they had to write hundreds of paragraphs to apologize for behavior."

Locklear said it is believed that Blake was mentally abused and physically starved at the family's former home on Eichelberger Drive, "until his body could no longer take the inhumane treatment.

"Then, Avantae developed a plan to hide Blake's remains, and she forced another person in the household to participate. They dismembered him and burned his remains," he said.

He said that during a forensic search of the former home, "biological evidence" found there supported "evidence of isolation, torture and starvation."

Related: Timeline of events in the Fayetteville case of two missing adopted siblings

It was during the investigation into Blakes's disappearance that officials learned London was missing Locklear said. By that time, the family was living in the home on Berriedale Drive where Avantae Deven was arrested Wednesday morning.

"Interviews uncovered information that a different member of the household had been forced to participate in removing London's body from that home," Locklear said. "She is believed to have died in the same painful way, in the same painful, callous manner that Blake died from — literal starvation and neglect."

He said investigators have confirmed that Blake has been missing since 2017 when he would have been 10 years old.

"Avantae only reported Blake missing after our investigation began," he said.

Police records show that Avantae Deven reported Blake missing in January, two months after the mental health call to her home.

In Avantae Deven's 911 call to report Blake missing Jan. 19, she claimed she last saw him two years earlier, when he would have been 15, as he was leaving to attend a Buddhist retreat out of state.

"Avantae never reported London missing. The last confirmed independent sighting of London was in 2019," Locklear said. "Even though London was an adult, she had special needs and depended on Avantae to care for her."

Avantae Deven's charging document lists the offense date as Nov. 1, 2017, and alleges Deven "concealed evidence of Blake Deven's death by dismembering and destroying human remains and knowing or having reason to know the human remains are of a person that did not die of natural causes"

Is claims she also "intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury, starvation, malnutrition on Blake Deven," and "Kidnapped London Deven without the consent of the victim and for the purpose of doing serious bodily injury to London Deven, terrorizing London Deven."

Avantae Deven is being held without bail in the Cumberland County jail.

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com. F.T. Norton can be reached at fnorton@fayobserver.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Blake, London Deven's adoptive mom Avantae Deven charged with murder