'This is horrendous': Former sister-in-law reacts after children found abandoned in filthy Pontiac home
Former sister-in-law reveals more about Michigan mother who allegedly left her children
Charlene Bryant is the former sister-in-law to the charged mother. Charlene hasn't been in contact in years and has loads of questions now. "We all knew she was a bad parent, but I don’t think nobody really realized this was going on," she said. "I just don’t know how the family don’t know when they are so close. "
PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - A former sister-in-law of a Pontiac mother accused of leaving her children alone in squalor for years reacted to her arrest, saying that she didn't even know the kids were in her custody.
Charges of child abuse were announced Wednesday against Kelli Bryant, 34, days after authorities said her three children were found living alone in a filthy home.
What they're saying:
"This is horrendous," said Charlene Bryant, Kelli's ex-sister-in-law.
Charlene said she hadn't seen Kelli's family since around 2020, which is around when she allegedly abandoned her three children in a condo. She said she last heard Kelli's mother was taking care of the kids, now 15, 13, and 12.
However, the children weren't with their grandmother. They were allegedly staying alone inside a home on Lydia Lane, with Kelli dropping off food every so often.
Kelli Bryant
"I'm kind of shocked it's this horrific," Charlene said. "I'm devastated."
Charlene noted that she knew Kelli was close with her family, so she didn't understand how they didn't know about the neglect.
"I honestly don't know how the family didn't know," she said.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald touched on the topic of Kelli's family when announcing charges against her.
"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, Kelly Bryant. And the evidence suggests that she effectively abandoned them to a revolting pit of refuse and squalor," she said.
Children found abandoned in filthy Pontiac home; sheriff's office collecting donations
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is collecting donations for three children recently found living alone in a filthy Pontiac home.
The other side:
FOX 2 stopped by the Pontiac home of Bryant’s extended family where police eventually took the children, but did not receive a comment.
Prosecutor says Michigan mom abandoned kids to ‘revolting pit of refuse and squalor’
Bryant was identified on Wednesday for the first time by Oakland County officials, with McDonald saying that she lived in the home with four children in 2019 and moved out with one in 2020. She left behind the other children, who are now 15, 13, and 12.
The backstory:
WARNING: The details of this story are disturbing.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said deputies were called for a welfare check at a home on Lydia Lane. The landlord called after he said he had not heard from the mother since December and that rent was last paid in October.
He told officers that he was concerned something had happened.
Deputies arrived and found the home full of garbage – piled as high as four feet in some rooms. The rooms were also covered in mold and human waste. The toilet was overflowing, and the bathtub was full of feces.
Inside the Pontiac home where deputies found three young children living in squalor and filth. Photo: Oakland County Sheriff.
The home was being lived in by the three children, alone.
The boy, the oldest of the siblings, said they lived in the home with their mother but that she abandoned them in either 2020 or 2021 – at least four years ago - when the children would have been just 11, 9, and 8.
The children survived on food that was dropped off on the front porch each week by either their mother or a stranger.
But they had no access to toilet paper or personal hygiene items. The sheriff said they were unfamiliar with personal hygiene and didn't even know how to flush a toilet.
They had also not attended school since she left them and instead passed time by watching TV or playing games. The sheriff said the girls had not been outside in several years.
Inside the Pontiac home where deputies found three young children living in squalor and filth. Photo: Oakland County Sheriff.
The boy slept on a mattress on the floor, but the two girls slept on pizza boxes.
According to deputies, neighbors were unaware that children lived in the home and had never seen them. They said they had seen their mother at the home each month.
The kids were all wearing soiled clothing with matted hair and toenails so long that it was difficult to walk.
Child abuse charges for Pontiac mom who abandoned three kids in squalor for four years
A charging decision will be announced on Wednesday against the mom of three who left three kids to live in squalor for almost five years.
What's next:
Kelli was arrested Friday. She has been charged with three counts of first-degree child abuse.
She is expected to be arraigned Thursday.
The Source: FOX 2 interviewed Charlene Bryant for this story. Previous FOX 2 reporting was also used.