Azuradee France (Detroit Police dept.) and Chayse Allen (GoFundMe)
A 33-year-old mother of six in Michigan will spend several decades behind bars for torturing and killing her blind 3-year-old son before stuffing his body inside of a basement freezer. Azuradee France on Friday formally pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the 2022 slaying of young Chayse Allen, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
France was initially arrested in June 2022 and charged with a spate of felonies, including felony murder, child abuse, torture, and concealing the death of an individual. In exchange for pleading to killing her son, all additional charges against France were dropped.
France’s murder trial had been scheduled to begin Monday.
France’s attorney, Lillian Diallo of the Public Defender’s Office, told The Detroit News that her client’s plea deal includes an agreement that she serve a sentence of 35 to 60 years in a state correctional facility.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, officers with the Detroit Police Department at about 12:45 p.m. on June 24, 2022, responded to a request for a welfare check on a young child at a home in the 12760 block of Monte Vista.
Upon arriving at the scene, police said they located the “remains of a deceased child” — later identified as Chayse — inside a freezer in the basement of the home. France was taken into custody and transported to the Wayne County Jail.
Detroit Police Chief James E. White said that what police found inside France’s home was “something that no one should have to see.”
“The other kids, just imagine what they must have gone through and what they must have endured being inside of that home,” the police chief said at the time. “And yes, a child was decomposing and yes, the child was found in the freezer.”
White said that in their initial conversation with France, the officers could tell something was “not right” about the way she was communicating and how she repeatedly tried to turn away police and Child Protective Services “as if there was nothing going on.” However, he said the officers “knew that something was wrong,” which led to the search of the home and discovery of Chayse’s body.
Prosecutors were also shocked by the heinous nature of the case.
“The alleged facts in this case have astounded even the seriously jaded,” Worthy said in a statement following France’s arrest. “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.”
In an interview with police, France reportedly said that one night in late March 2022, she grew increasingly frustrated with Chayse for refusing to eat, so she whipped the boy with a belt and kicked him at least once in the chest. When she went to check on him the following morning, the toddler was dead.
France explained that she didn’t call 911 out of fear police would take her other children away. Instead, she put Chayse’s body in a bag and brought it down to the basement freezer.
France is scheduled to appear in court again on July 29, for her sentencing hearing.
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