DETROIT, MI — The short, tormented lives of 13-year-old Stoni A. Blair and her brother, 9-year-old Stephen Berry, will be honored Monday.
The funeral for the children found in a deep freezer owned by their mother, 35-year-old Mitchelle Blair, during an eviction March 24, is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Monday at Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile Rd in Detroit.
Alexander J. Dorsey is the 35-year-old father of Stoni and Blair’s surviving 17-year-old daughter. Steven Berry, 31, of Redford, is the father of Stephen and Blair’s surviving 8-year-old. Neither had seen their children in more than two years at the time of their deaths. Blair’s surviving 17-year-old daughter described the horror of their lives during an interview with an agent of the Wayne County Juvenile Court after the discovery of the bodies. It lasted for years. The medical examiner ruled both of the children’s deaths homicides caused by severe beatings. Burns also contributed to Stephen’s death. The eldest surviving daughter said Stephen died about Aug. 30, 2012. Her mother in the past would wrap a belt around Stephen’s neck, choke him and, while holding only both ends of the belt, lift him off the ground multiple times, she remembers.
