PONTIAC, MI – A woman who abandoned her three children in a home covered in garbage, human feces and mold has been charged in Oakland County.
Kelli Bryant, 34, of Pontiac was charged with three counts of first-degree child abuse, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen D. McDonald announced Wednesday.
Officials are also moving forward with plans to terminate Bryant’s parental rights, McDonald said.
The children, a 15-year-old boy and two girls, 12 and 13, were found at the home in the 600 block of Lydia Lane by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 14.
The children, found in soiled clothing and with matted hair and toenails several inches long, had been living alone at the home since 2020 or 2021.
Deputies found the scared girls hiding in a nonfunctional bathroom filled with feces and piles of trash and the boy hiding in another room.
The children’s only contact with the outside world was occasionally with their mother via telephone, who prosecutors said occasionally had food delivered to the home but also took active steps of lying and concealing to make sure the children went undiscovered.
At no point did the children have access to basic necessities like toilet paper, soap or shampoo, McDonald said.
The girls had trouble walking and the children were immediately overstimulated upon leaving the residence, McDonald said.
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“The three children in this case suffered unimaginable abuse and neglect over a long period of time,” McDonald said. “Morally, there is plenty of responsibility to go around for how this was allowed to happen. However, these three kids were entrusted to the care of their mother, Kelli Bryant, and the evidence suggests that she effectively abandoned them to a revolting pit of refuse and squalor. There must be consequences for those actions.”
Following their rescue, the children received medical care at a local hospital where they struggled with completing basic hygiene tasks, like flushing a toilet and brushing their teeth because they hadn’t done it in years, McDonald said.
They are now staying with a relative.
“Considering what they’ve experienced, they appear to be doing okay,” McDonald said.
In the days since their story and photos of their deplorable living conditions went public, the Oakland County community has been rallying to support the children. Clothing donations were collected and more than $15,000 has been raised.
McDonald thanked the public for its understandable concern for the children, but also asked that people respect their privacy and the family members they are staying with.
But its a case that has received significant national attention. During the press conference on Wednesday, McDonald was asked what stands out about the case.
“I said yesterday, and I said this to the sheriff personally, we say a lot: ‘This is the worst I’ve ever seen.’ And I’ve stopped saying that, because, every time I say that, I see something worse.”
“I was unbelievable what they were living with for years. It wouldn’t be a surrounding where you would want any living creature living in; creature or animal or particularly human beings. I mean, these kids, to not have even basic hygiene tools.”
“And I guess what stands out the most for me is no love. There was nobody there to care for them for between three and four years. No parent. Nobody physically present to let them know that they were safe, and they were loved.”
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