Mom Accused of Killing, Hiding Kids in Freezer Wants Death Penalty

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A Detroit mother who allegedly murdered her two children and hid them in a deep freezer for two years told court officials Friday that she wants the death penalty.

Michigan doesn’t have capital punishment, but Mitchelle Blair, 37, said she would accept life in prison, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Blair was prepared to plead guilty to the charges against her – felony murder, first-degree premeditated murder, torture and child-abuse – but 36th District Court Judge Kenneth King said he wanted to hear from doctors who performed competency exams before accepting her plea.

She was found competent to stand trial, but the request is an “unusual circumstance,” King said, according to The Detroit News.

“I’m already saying I did it,” Blair said. “I’m expecting to get life in prison.”

Blair has been apologetic about her alleged actions, saying that she killed the children, Stoni Blair and Stephen Berry, to protect her her 8-year-old son from abuse by his siblings. Officials have said there is no evidence to substantiate Blair’s claims of abuse.

“I don’t want him to see that I stood here like a coward,” Blair said. “I did what I did. And I did what I did for my baby. Period.”

The children were discovered in the freezer in March by a crew carrying out an eviction order. Blair is accused of killing Stephen when he was 9, in 2012, and Stoni when she was 13, in 2013.

In a separate matter, state officials are seeking to terminate her and parental rights for her other children, the 8-year-old boy she claimed she was protecting, and a 17-year-old daughter. Both are in the care of relatives. The court also wants to terminate the parental rights of non-custodial fathers of the two surviving children.

All four children were abused, officials said. The children whose bodies were found in the freezer had been beaten and burned and were severely malnourished before their deaths, officials said.