Mother let son and daughter starve and burned corpses: Police

July 1, 2024

Avantae Deven (left) is accused of starving her adopted son and daughter Blake Deven (center) and London Deven (right) to death in their North Carolina home and burning their bodies in a barrel. (Fayetteville Police Department)

A North Carolina mother is behind bars after the remains of two of her adopted children were found burned in a barrel – and police say they had been there for years.

Avantae Deven, 63, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, concealment of a death, kidnapping and child abuse, Fayetteville police said in a news release. She is accused of killing Blake Deven and London Deven, the latter of whom had special needs. Blake had not been seen since 2022, while London Deven was last seen in 2019, police initially thought. But her mother did not report her missing until March.

The investigation began when officers were called to the Devens’ home in November because someone there was experiencing a mental health crisis, Fayetteville Police Chief Kemberle Braden said at a news conference Wednesday. The man experiencing the crisis later told investigators that he had not seen his brother, Blake Deven, in five years and that he had broken his arm the last time he saw him, Braden said.

Police began investigating and later learned that another family member, London Deven, was also missing. The mother had adopted three boys and two girls, including London Deven, who needed help.

Sergeant Jeff Locklear said Avantae Deven tried to lead investigators astray.

“She initially told us the story that Blake might have been at a Buddhist retreat in the mountains,” he said.

The mother told the same story to an emergency dispatcher when she reported the two missing in March.

“He’s generally religious. He used to talk about Buddhist retreats on and off … but this time he never called back. My daughter went to one for six months once and called, so I thought, OK. He’s really independent, strong and brave and bossy, so that’s not really unlikely for his character,” she said in the phone call, which was obtained by Raleigh ABC affiliate WTVD.

Further investigation showed that was a lie, Locklear said. With the help of the FBI, police searched the house where the family lived from November 2016 to June 2019. On the property, investigators found a cask containing partial human remains, authorities said. Last week, the results came back that the remains belonged to two people: a woman aged 15 to 19 and a man aged 7 to 10. The woman was identified as London Deven, while the man is believed to be Blake Deven, Braden said.

According to Locklear, investigators believe the mother herded the children into a dark room and gave them little to no food. Avantae Deven allegedly said the children could earn food by writing hundreds of paragraphs apologizing for their behavior. Locklear said after the boy and woman died, she asked someone from the home to help her dispose of the bodies in the incinerator. According to Lockyear, they likely died sometime before 2019, while living in the home where the remains were discovered.

Avantae Deven is being held without bail at the Cumberland County Detention Center.