Avantae Deven, left, is accused of starving her adoptive son and daughter, Blake Deven, center and London Deven, right, to death at their North Carolina home and burned their bodies in a barrel. (Fayetteville Police Department)
A North Carolina mother is behind bars after the remains of two of her adoptive children were found burned in a barrel — and they had been there for years, cops allege.
Avantae Deven, 63, is facing two counts of first-degree murder , concealment of death, kidnapping and felony child abuse, the Fayetteville Police Department said in a press release . She’s accused of killing Blake Deven and London Deven, the latter of whom had special needs. Blake hadn’t been seen since 2022 while London Deven was last spotted in 2019, police initially thought. But their mother didn’t report them missing until March.
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The investigation began when cops responded to the Deven home in November for someone going through a mental health crisis, Fayetteville police Chief Kemberle Braden said Wednesday at a press conference. The person who had the crisis later told detectives that he hadn’t seen his brother Blake Deven in five years and the last time he saw him, he had a broken arm, Braden said.