The tragic 2010 murders of Natalie and Jonathan DeBlase led to two death sentences.
In short: In 2010, the deaths of four-year-old Natalie and three-year-old Jonathan DeBlase in Alabama revealed a harrowing history of abuse by their father and stepmother. The subsequent legal proceedings spanned over a decade, resulting in death sentences for both perpetrators, John Joseph DeBlase and Heather Leavell-Keaton, who remain on death row today.
The case began to unravel in late 2010 after John DeBlase was arrested for traffic offenses in Kentucky. During an argument, his partner, Heather Leavell-Keaton, inadvertently signaled to her mother that something grave had occurred. Subsequent police investigations into the couple’s van uncovered disturbing evidence, including children’s stuffed animals and a container of antifreeze. DeBlase eventually confessed to burying the children, though he blamed Leavell-Keaton for the murders, claiming he acted out of fear that she would continue her abuse.
The children had been subjected to months of mistreatment. According to allegations, Natalie was locked in a suitcase and poisoned with antifreeze in March 2010, while Jonathan suffered similar abuse in June 2010. Their remains were discovered in December 2010—Natalie’s in a forest near Citronelle, Alabama, and Jonathan’s in a wooded area near Vancleave, Mississippi. Pathologists could not identify a specific cause of death but concluded the children likely died due to homicidal violence.
John DeBlase was convicted of capital murder in 2014 and sentenced to death in 2015. Heather Leavell-Keaton’s legal path was more complex; she was initially convicted of capital murder for Jonathan’s death and reckless manslaughter for Natalie’s. After a series of appeals, including a 2020 ruling that overturned her initial death sentence due to procedural errors, her death sentence was reinstated in 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed her final appeal in 2023.
Today, both individuals await execution. DeBlase is held at the Holman Correctional Facility, while Leavell-Keaton is one of five women on Alabama's death row at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. The case remains a stark example of systemic failure and domestic tragedy, leaving the biological mother, Corinne Heathcock, to grapple with the guilt of having granted custody to her ex-husband in 2009.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: DeBlase children murders
- Also: Wikidata — DeBlase children murders · CC0
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