A Detroit mother is facing a slew of charges including murder after police found the body of her 3-year-old son in a basement freezer. According to The Detroit News, the discovery was made after police went to Azuradee France’s home to do a wellness check.
France, who appeared in court on Friday, remains in custody. The charges filed against the 31-year-old mother include felony murder, first-degree child abuse, torture and concealing the death of an individual.
The deceased minor’s grandmother, Toni Haynes, said the 3-year-old was called Chase Allen. She also said the minor was blind.
RELATED STORIES
“The alleged facts in this case have astounded even the seriously jaded,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement on Sunday. “Our children continue to be at risk — not just from gun violence but also from the alleged murderer that lives in the house with them.”
Detroit police said officers and a state child advocate went to France’s home on Friday afternoon to do a wellness check on a minor. But the suspect behaved strangely after she answered the door. The officers and the advocate ultimately made their way into the home after they requested a supervisor.
Upon entry, police said the team found five children in a filthy state as well as the decomposed remains of the minor in a freezer. The medical examiner ruled the victim’s death as a homicide.
Haynes told The Detroit News that she started feeling something was wrong after Chase’s mother told her that the minor had sustained a burn injury after he touched a plate of noodles. She said she subsequently got in touch with Child Protective Services.
“I called CPS on her. A lot of us called, and they’d come out and give her kids right back to her,” Haynes said.
Haynes also said state officials went to her daughter’s home on multiple occasions. But she said France told her that Chase was staying with the girlfriend of his paternal grandfather.
“But then (the grandfather) got out of jail and he told me Chase wasn’t living with his girlfriend,” Haynes recalled, adding that family members ultimately confronted France some two weeks ago. They also got in touch with Child Protective Services.
Haynes has since set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for Chase’s funeral and to help purchase clothes and other items for the minor’s siblings.
