The deaths of two Detroit kids found in their mother's freezer last week have been ruled as homicides, the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said Friday.
Stoni Ann Blair, 13, was killed by multiple blunt trauma while her 9-year-old brother, Stephen Berry, died from a combination of blunt trauma and thermal injuries, Ryan Bridges, a spokesman for the medical examiner, told the Detroit Free Press.
"The manner for both children was determined to be homicide," Bridges said.
The autopsy results, which took so long because the bodies needed to thaw, could mean murder charges against Mitchelle Blair, their mother who remains held on $1 million bond on charges of child abuse. She is scheduled to appear in court April 2.
Her children were discovered in her freezer on Tuesday by officials who were evicting her from her townhouse in east Detroit.
The latest details surrounding the harrowing case reveal 35-year-old Blair subjected her children to years of abuse, according to court records filed by child welfare agents on Thursday.
According to her surviving 17-year-old daughter, Blair tortured Stephen for two weeks before he died in August 2012, including throwing hot water on him, putting a plastic bag over his head and tying a belt around his neck, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The mother later killed Stoni after the child said she did not like her siblings, her daughter told investigators. Blair allegedly placed a plastic bag over Stoni's head and strangled her with a T-shirt.
Blair then forced her 17-year-old to "put Stoni in the deep freezer," court records said, according to the newspaper.
As the investigation continues, the Michigan Department of Human Services is looking to terminate Blair's parental rights to her daughter and surviving 8-year-old, who are currently in the care of an aunt.
Police say Blair confessed to the murders as she was being arrested, the newspaper reported.
"They're both dead I did it!" Blair allegedly said, adding that she herself is not evil.
"It was just an evil act."
