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. Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Tracy E. Green on Monday ordered Azuradee France to serve 35 to 60 years in a state correctional facility for the 2022 slaying of young Chayse Allen, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
France earlier this month pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder over her son’s horrific death. Greene also credited her with 767 days of time already served.
According to a report from Detroit Fox affiliate WJBK, France did not speak during Monday’s hearing. She reportedly sat quietly in the courtroom and kept her hands over her face when Green declared her sentence.
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 guilty to killing her son, prosecutors dropped the remaining charges.
As previously reported, 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.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was similarly 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 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.
The Detroit News reported that France told a homicide detective she had grown frustrated because the blind child had special needs and she didn’t have any help. She also claimed that Chayse was supposed to have been staying with her father, who previously took her children in.
“He was so different,” France reportedly told police, referring to Chayse. “My dad wasn’t supposed to bring him back to me.”
Additionally, France reportedly explained that she didn’t call 911 out of fear police would take her other children away. Instead, she reportedly told the two children who found Chayse’s body that she’d “take care of it,” and placed him in a bag which she brought down and stuffed into the basement freezer.
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