Detroit mother, Azuradee France, has been charged with murder after local police discovered her blind three-year-old son Chase Allen’s body in a freezer.
According to Click On Detroit, France was taken into custody the same day authorities found Allen’s decomposing body. She has since been charged with felony murder, first-degree child abuse, torture, and concealing the death of an individual as of June 26, and is scheduled to be arraigned on July 3.
Officers said they found the little boy’s body inside the basement freezer of a residence on Monte Vista Street near the intersection of Grand River Avenue and Fullerton Street. They initially visited the home while responding to a wellness check for a child on June 24, but the occupant of the residence reportedly tried to push them away. The occupant’s reaction to their visit prompted them to believe “there was something not right,” Detroit police Chief James White said.
A medical examiner determined that Allen’s death was due to homicide, The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office reported.
Police also noted that there were five other children in the Detroit home when they arrived at the scene and that the kids were taken to the hospital for evaluation. Additionally, they were expected to be interviewed by authorities.
“The alleged facts in this case have astounded even the seriously jaded,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement. “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.”
Allen’s grandmother, Toni Haynes–France’s mother–said she became suspicious after her daughter told her she called Child Protective Services because the young boy burned his hand by touching a plate of noodles. She also mentioned that the boy was blind.
“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.
She added that the state visited her daughter’s home on several occasions and that France told her that Allen went to live with his paternal grandfather’s girlfriend in Coldwater.
“But then (the grandfather) got out of jail, and he told me Chayse wasn’t living with his girlfriend,” Haynes said.
She created a GoFundMe account on June 24 to help pay for her grandson’s funeral, in which she raised $6,811 of her $10,000 goal.
