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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) – Avantae Deven, the adoptive mother of Blake and London Deven, was taken into custody Wednesday and faces numerous charges in connection with their disappearance and death.

She made her first court appearance in Fayetteville on Thursday afternoon. She is charged with five serious crimes, including first-degree murder and child abuse. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.

“The allegations are certainly among the worst I have seen in the nearly 25 years I have been in this field,” said Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West.

The judge ordered Avantae to remain in custody without bail at least until her next probation hearing, scheduled for July.

“I know that the allegations cannot be worse. I have complete confidence in our justice system,” said Avantae’s defense attorney.

On Wednesday afternoon, Fayetteville Police announced gruesome news about Blake and London, who had not been seen in years.

The lead investigator said officers responded to a call to Avantae’s Berridale Drive home in November 2023 about a child attempting suicide and this led to an investigation into the disappearance of Blake Deven. The youth in question on the call told police “he had not seen his brother Blake Deven for about five years and the last time he saw him he had a broken arm. He then told police Blake was now dead.”

Police said the adoptive mother (Avantae) did not file a missing person report for Blake. She only filed such a report after police began their investigation.

Who is Avantae Deven?

According to police, Avantae Deven moved to Fayetteville in 2015 with her elderly mother and five adopted children. The children are three boys who are biologically related to each other and two girls who are not related to each other or the boys.

Police and the Department of Social Services (DSS) interviewed the children, and all gave vivid accounts of the horrific treatment they endured at the hands of their adoptive mother and revealed what may have happened to Blake and London.

The children said they were kept in a small, dark room and given little to no food. They told police they could earn food by writing apologies for their behavior. Investigators said forensic evidence backed up allegations of torture, starvation and isolation.

According to police, Deven tried to mislead investigators with various stories, which prolonged the investigation.

“She initially told us the story that Blake might have been at a Buddhist retreat in the mountains,” said lead investigator Sergeant Jeff Locklear.

According to police, Deven had a family acquaintance who posed as Blake during a visit to the Cumberland County Department of Social Services (DSS). Investigators tracked down the person, who admitted to participating in the impersonation at the behest of Avanate Deven.

Investigators interviewed people connected to the case and learned that three of the five adopted children were subjected to extreme forms of torture, abuse and neglect for many years. They said the three oldest children were kept in extremely small rooms in total darkness, with no guarantees of hygiene, and were given little or no food. They were also forced to use a small plastic container as a toilet for days, weeks or months.

Police said they interviewed a person who used to live in the home. That person confirmed to police what happened to Blake. The person said Blake died in the home in 2017 after being abused, starved and tortured for a long time. The person said despite pleas from the other children, Avantae refused to call for medical help when Blake collapsed and fell unconscious. Instead, the person said, Avantae hatched a plan to hide his remains until she decided how to dispose of them permanently. She later decided to dispose of them in a fire pit in the backyard.

Avantae then moved the family from Eichelberger Drive to the current house on Berridale Drive. During the move, one of the abused children left the house and the state, documents show. That person returned after some time and asked Avantae to come to London. They said Avantae said, “I had to put her in a mental institution.” They told police there were only two boys in the house at the time.

After the investigation began, police and intelligence visited the house again, which made Avantae nervous. She allegedly made contact with the person who had run away but returned, explaining that London was not in a mental institution but had died after a seizure in the Berridale house and needed help removing evidence. According to the person, Avantae used what happened to Blake as leverage to get them to help her remove carpets, flooring and other items that could be potential evidence. They were instructed to help repaint and paint areas in the house to remove anything incriminating. They were instructed to drive to a remote location and burn the items.

After learning of this, police were still able to find evidence in the house that confirmed the stories of torture, starvation and isolation. They were also told of a metal burn barrel in the back of the house. There, police say, they found two bodies, and lab tests identified one of them as that of London Deven. The other bodies could not be positively identified as Blake’s, but police stated in their report that they believe these bodies are Blake Deven.

According to police, a video was found at a Walmart showing Avantae, who had another child with her at the time, purchasing a red cooler that looked exactly like one of the children described. Police believe Avantae had been storing Blake’s remains since 2017, when he was murdered in the Eichelberger Drive home.

WATCH | Blake and London Deven Case Timeline