Stephen Gage Berry was the 9-year-old boy whose lifeless body was found in the family’s deep freezer in their Detroit home. His mother murdered Stephen in August 2012, and nine months after his death, his older half-sister, Stoni Ann Blair, met the same fate. The kids’ bodies were found in 2015 by a crew that had come to evict their mother, Michelle Blair after she defaulted her rent payment. Keep on reading to learn the chilling details.
Stephen Gage Berry Bio
Stephen was the son of Michelle Blair and Steven Berry. Berry was an absent father, and he would later claim that Michelle denied her to see his son. Michelle raised her son and his siblings at their home at Martin Luther King Apartments, Detroit. One of Stephen’s siblings was Stoni Ann Blair, who suffered the same fate as him nine months after he died.
According to his mother, Stephen had raped her younger son, and after she confronted him, he confessed to the act. As a result, Stephen was tortured when Michelle poured scalding hot water. She also forced him to drink window cleaner and put plastic bags over his head. When he tore the bags to breathe, Michelle looked for tougher bags and covered Stephen’s mouth and nose until he lost consciousness. She then slapped him awake and continued with the torture.
Stephen succumbed to his mother’s torture in August 2012. After he died, Michelle placed him in her home’s deep freezer, where he would be found three years later by a 36th District Court eviction crew.
Stephen Gage Berry’s Sister
Nine months after Stephen was murdered by his mother, his half-sister, Stoni Ann Blair, was a victim of the same. Stoni was the daughter of Michelle and Alexander Dorsey, who was also an absent father. Michelle denied him the chance to see his daughters Stoni and the other unnamed 17-year-old. Stone was starved, beaten, and tortured until she succumbed in May 2013. Michelle put Stoni’s body in a plastic bag and placed it in the same freezer as Stephen on top of his body.
Stoni Ann lair and Stephen Gage Berry remained in the freezer for almost three years, and no one missed them, partly because their fathers were deadbeat and their mother had pulled them out of school a while back. She had told the teachers that she planned on teaching them at home. She also had a ready excuse whenever her neighbors asked about the children’s whereabouts.
Stephen Gage Berry’s Mother’s Confession
Michelle Blair was arrested in March 2015 after an eviction crew in her apartment found the bodies. She confessed to killing Stephen and Stoni in front of Judge Dana Hathaway at the Wayne County Circuit Court. Showing no remorse, she said she killed her “demons” for raping her son, although the claims were never substantiated. Michelle was stripped of her parental rights on her other two children. In June 2015, Michelle Blair pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree premeditated murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, currently serving at the Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti, Michigan. There is no possibility of parole for her.
Wrapping Up
Stephen and his sister were victims of their mother’s evil deeds. We hope their two living siblings found peace in what they had witnessed at their Detroit home.