The state of North Carolina is investigating how Avantae Deven, a woman accused of killing her two adopted children, was able to adopt them, WRAL Investigates confirms.
Avantae Deven is accused of murdering and concealing the deaths of Blake and London Deven, two of her five adopted children. She is charged with first-degree murder, concealment of death, kidnapping and felony child abuse. If convicted on the murder charges alone, she could face the death penalty.
Public documents show Blake, 17, was reported missing in January 2024 even though police did not publicly announce his disappearance until late March 2024. London was reported missing on April 4, 2024, years after she was last known to be living in Fayetteville. In April, Fayetteville police found partial skeletal remains in the search for Blake and London.
Timeline of the Deven children and case
Following Avantae Deven’s arrest, WRAL Investigates asked the state Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) if it would investigate how Avantae Deven secured adoptions in western N.C. in Buncombe, McDowell and Madison counties.
A spokesperson said, “Yes, NCDHHS will partner with all counties to conduct a thorough assessment of decision making that led to selection of Ms. Deven as an adoptive parent.”
WRAL News also asked if NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley would support a law change to require a Division of Social Services (DSS) agency to perform check-ins with families of adopted children post-adoption.
The spokesperson didn’t answer the question directly but instead said NCDHHS reviews and assesses policies to make sure changes happen when needed.
When WRAL News asked the state whether Avantae Deven was still accepting adoption support money from the state when Blake went missing, the NCDHHS spokesperson could not comment on a specific case.
An arrest warrant dated June 26 indicates Avantae Deven forced one of Blake’s siblings to purchase tools and items from a store to use to dismember his body, according to the warrant.
The warrants also state Avantae Deven enlisted a friend of the family to pretend to be Blake during a visit from the Cumberland County Department of Social Services.
Arrest warrant: 911 call for attempted suicide tips off police that Blake Deven was missing
The Fayetteville Police Department first learned Blake Deven was missing after a boy at the Deven home called 911 and said he wanted to kill himself in November 2023.
The boy told officials, “He had not seen his brother Blake in five years and that the last time he saw Blake, he had a broken arm and that he is now dead,” according to the affidavit.
It prompted Avantae Deven to convince a family acquaintance to impersonate Blake Deven during a DSS visit.
The warrant also states investigators learned from the surviving siblings that the three oldest children were kept in small rooms in complete darkness with little to no food and a plastic container to use as a bathroom.
It states that in order to earn food privileges the children were forced to do “paperwork,” which “consisted of writing hundreds and frequently thousands of sentences and paragraphs apologizing for some misdeed they had supposedly done.”
Avantae Deven is also accused of beating the children severely enough to require medical care, but only “applying things she deemed as natural cures llike applying honey to open wounds.”
According to the documents, investigators recovered evidence that supports the allegations. It includes items that “corroborate statements about torture, starvation and isolation.”
Investigators also recovered evidence from the family’s Eichelberger Drive, the documents state.
One of the five siblings ran from the home and left the state, according to the documents. Upon returning to the house, the sibling asked about London Deven’s whereabouts “after knowing what happened to Blake Deven.”
The warrant states Avantae Deven responded, “I had to put her in a mental institution,” when asked about London Deven.
The documents state Avantae Deven developed a plan to hide Blake Deven’s remains until she could decide how to permanently dispose of them.
According to the warrant, Avantae Deven told one of the adopted children, “If this ever gets found 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,” Avantae Deven told one of the siblings in the warrant.
Blake Deven’s death
The narrative states that an interview conducted with a former member of the household revealed that in late 2017, Blake Deven’s health began to fail.
“After being exposed to isolation, starvation, physical, mental and emotional torture for weeks and months at a time, he became lethargic and eventually went unconscious.” The narrative continues, “Even after repeated please for help from his siblings, Avantae Deven refused to call an ambulance.” Blake Deven died in the home soon afterwards.
London Deven’s death
In 2023, the family moved to a home on Berriedale Drive.
The documents state Avantae Deven admitted to a former household member that she lied. The documents state London Deven was “not in a mental institution and that she had a seizure and died while in the home on Berriedale Drive and that she needed help getting rid of evidence of that incident.”
According to the documents, Avantae Deven used the fact that the person had helped dispose of Blake Deven to have the former household member in disposing of evidence and cover up London Deven’s death.
The documents state Avantae Deven removed carpet, flooring and other building material along with painting and repainting surfaces within the home to erase incriminating evidence of what happened to London Deven.
According to the documents, Avantae Deven told the former household member to take the items “to a secluded location and burn them.”
Video footage from an area Walmart showed Avantae Deven and two adopted children purchasing a red cooler, according to the arrest documents. The documents allege London Deven’s remains were found inside the cooler.
What’s next in Avantae Deven’s court case?
It’s unclear how long it will take authorities to determine whether the second set of remains found officially belong to Blake Deven.
Authorities are holding Avantae Deven in the Cumberland County Detention Center without bond.
Avantae Deven is due in court again on July 17.
If you’re having suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, call or text 988 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. Veterans can press “1” after dialing 988 to connect directly to the Veterans Crisis Lifeline. For texts, veterans should continue to text the Veterans Crisis Lifeline short code: 838255.