Shocking allegations in the case against a North Carolina mother suspected of murdering two of her five children indicate that she reportedly compelled one of her other children to assist in dismembering their sibling’s bodies and threatened to blame them if necessary.
Advantage Deven, 63, of Fayetteville, was arrested on June 23 and charged with the killing of her daughter London Deven, and the disappearance of her son Blake Deven, who is thought dead, according to Fayetteville Police. The children had been gone for years, but officials were oblivious. All five of her children were adopted.
Two sets of human remains were discovered in a barrel in the backyard of an Autryville home in April. One set was chosen to represent London. The other remains are being tested further, but court records obtained by The Fayetteville Observer indicate that they “preliminarily appear” to be Blake’s.
Blaming Her Other Children
Deven allegedly compelled one of the other children to purchase the tools and dismember their siblings’ bodies, according to court documents.
She is accused of telling the youngster who reportedly assisted her, “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.”
When the Department of Social Services got involved, Deven became “nervous” and hired a family friend to impersonate her son during a house visit, according to court records that include the individual’s police statement.
Blake Went Missing First
Fayetteville Police only heard of Blake’s disappearance in late 2023, when another of her children, a teenager, contacted 911 threatening suicide, causing officers to respond to the residence.
“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 charges.
Lead investigator Sgt. Jeff Locklear told reporters last week that detectives had confirmed Blake’s disappearance since 2017 when he was ten years old.
However, his mother did not report him missing until January 2024. Deven informed authorities that she last saw her son in 2022 when he was supposedly heading for a Buddhist retreat.
According to court filings, investigators discovered evidence that Blake was starved and tortured “until his body could no longer take the inhumane treatment” and his health began to collapse in 2017. He became lethargic and eventually lost consciousness, but his mother refused to seek aid for Blake, and he died.
Disposing of His Remains
Deven allegedly devised a plan to dispose of the boy’s remains before forcing one of Blake’s siblings to purchase the instruments required to dismember his body.
According to the affidavit, Deven then burnt Blake’s body in a fire barrel in the backyard of the Eichelberger Drive home and erased all evidence of the boy’s death from the premises.
“Avantae developed a plan to hide Blake’s remains, and she forced another person in the household to participate,” she said. “They dismembered him and burned his remains.”
London’s Brief Lifespan
During their investigation into Blake’s disappearance, authorities uncovered the body of London Deven, who had last been seen alive in 2019.
After the family relocated to a home on Berriedale Drive, one of the children departed the state but subsequently returned to inquire about London. According to court records, Deven stated: “I had to put her in a mental institution.”
But on April 10, Fayetteville police discovered a metal fire barrel containing the fragmentary human skeleton remains of two infants. The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that one set belonged to London Deven.
According to the request, police discovered security video depicting Deven and the two surviving adopted children in her care purchasing a red cooler at an area Walmart, where the record claims London’s remains were discovered.
Abuse Allegations
Police and the Department of Social Services (DSS) interviewed the three surviving children, who all described graphic details of the horrific treatment they allegedly received, including malnutrition and physical abuse while trapped in a small, dark room with only a plastic container to use as a restroom.
“Deven kept them in small rooms in complete darkness at times,” according to independent. “They were provided little to no food, and they could earn it by doing ‘paperwork.’ This meant they had to write hundreds of paragraphs to apologize for their wrongdoing. It is said that some of the children were beaten to the point where they required medical attention, but were only given natural remedies such as honey.
When the youngsters misbehaved, they were allegedly made to complete “paperwork,” which “consisted of writing hundreds, if not thousands, of sentences and paragraphs apologizing for some misdeed they had allegedly committed.”
Deven is accused of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily harm, two counts of destroying human remains or concealing an unnatural death, and one crime of kidnapping.
She remains in Cumberland County Jail, where she is being held without bail.