(WWJ) A Metro Detroit mother accused of leaving her children alone in squalor for years has officially had her parental rights severed.
Kelli Bryant of Pontiac lost custody of all four of her children.
Three of the kids are now living with their paternal grandfather after being found alone in their Pontiac home. The fourth wasn't in the home but has been living with his father.Bryant, who faces three felony charges of first degree child abuse, did not appear during Monday's hearing during which Judge Lisa Langton announced her ruling on the custody matter.
The children were discovered at an apartment in Pontiac on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, after the landlord called police to report they were "concerned for the welfare of Bryant, who had not paid rent on the property since October 2024," McDonald said.
Bryant had been living there with her four children in 2019.
At some point in 2020 or 2021 she moved out, leaving three of the children behind and sending the fourth to live with their father, according to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald.
When police officers entered the home with the landlord, they found three girls, ages 12 and 13, hiding in a bathroom that was "filled with feces, piles of trash and completely non-functional," McDonald said. Their 15-year-old brother was hiding in another room.
The boy told authorities he would text his mom when their food supply was running low, and she would have food delivered to the home. The children said that during the years they lived alone, their mother failed to provide toilet paper, soap or shampoo.
All three kids were taken to a hospital, where they struggled with completing basic hygiene tasks like flushing the toilet and brushing their teeth, because they had not done it in years, according to McDonald.
Bryant's criminal trial is set to start the first week of June.
