Fayetteville woman enlisted daughter, acquaintance to cover up deaths of adoptive children: Warrant

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — New documents obtained by CBS 17 claim the woman accused of murdering two of her adoptive children forced another child to take part in the dismembering and cover-up of their deaths.

Avantae Deven is accused of murdering adopted children, Blake and London Deven. Avantae is facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of destroying a body/remains concealing an unnatural death, intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, negligent child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, and kidnapping.

Court documents say she told one of her minor adoptive children, “If this ever gets out, you need to take the blame because I will get the death penalty and because of your age, you won’t get in trouble if you take the blame.”

The last confirmed sighting of 17-year-old Blake Deven was in 2017. London, who would have been 27, was last seen in 2019.

Blake and London were two of five unrelated children adopted by Avantae. The Fayetteville Police Department says those children were exposed to “extreme forms of torture, abuse and neglect.”

In newly obtained warrants, CBS 17 has learned reports of an attempted suicide by a child in the Deven home in Nov. 2023 prompted the investigation that led to the discovery of the deaths of Blake and London Deven.

Fayetteville police reported homicide detectives conducted an interview with a former member of the household, one of Avantae’s older daughters, about their time living at the family’s home on Eichelberger Drive. Police learned that in the later part of 2017, Blake’s health began to deteriorate after being exposed to “isolation, starvation, physical, mental and emotional torture for weeks and months.”

“They were given little or no food and could earn nourishment through by doing paperwork. That mean they had to write hundreds of paragraphs to apologize for behaving. It is alleged some of the children were also beaten to the point of needing medical care, but only natural cures like honey were given,” Sergeant Mickey Locklear with FPD said in a news conference.

Blake died in the Eichelberger Drive home after police say Avantae refused to call an ambulance even after pleas for help from the siblings.

Police say Avantae forced Blake’s siblings to purchase tools to dismember the boy. Blake’s remains were incinerated in a metal burn pit in the backyard.

According to a timeline provided by police, the family moved to another home on Berriedale Drive in June 2019. Police discovered one of the children being abused ran away and left the state.

That child eventually returned and after knowing what happened to Blake, police say they asked about London’s whereabouts.

That child reported that Avantae told them, “I had to put her in a mental institution.” At this time, just two children, the youngest, were still residing in the home, FPD said.

In late 2023, after the suicide attempt of one of the younger Deven children, the Cumberland County Department of Social Services began visiting the home. During their investigation, police interviewed a family acquaintance who said Avantae convinced them to pretend to be Blake during a CCDSS visit.

During an interview with the boy who attempted suicide, police say the child told them he had not seen his brother Blake in five years and that the last time he had seen him, he had a broken arm, and that he was now dead.

Police said Avantae became nervous about the home inspections and contacted the former member of the household and asked them to visit.

During that visit, police said Avantae admitted London was not at an institution and had instead had a seizure and died while in the Berriedale home. Fayetteville police reported Avantae then used the former member of the household’s knowledge of what happened to Blake as leverage to force them to help her cover up London’s murder.

Police say Avantae removed carpet and flooring and repainted surfaces of the home to hide evidence. Avantae then, according to police, drove the items to a secluded location to burn them.

That former member of the household told detectives where to find a metal burn barrel used to transport the evidence. In that barrel, police say they found charred remains believed to belong to London and Blake. Police believe Avantae kept Blake’s remains from 2017 and later placed them in the same container as London’s remains for destruction.

Court documents say one of the Deven children recommended investigators check a video from a local Walmart. That video showed Avantae and juveniles buying a red cooler similar to the one remains where found inside of.

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