Michigan Mother Faces Trial After Children Found Living in Feces-Filled Home, Sleeping on Pizza Boxes

May 20, 2025 Sharon Banks

Three children in Michigan were found living in deplorable conditions—surrounded by filth, garbage and feces—after allegedly being abandoned for years by their mother, authorities said.

When police located the children, two young girls were reportedly sleeping on pizza boxes, while their teenage brother struggled to walk due to severely overgrown toenails.

At a preliminary hearing on Friday, Oakland County Sheriff’s Detective John Brish testified that the children’s mother, 34-year-old Kelli Bryant, appeared well-groomed when she arrived for a police interview, wearing clean clothes, artificial nails, and a styled hairstyle.

Detective Brish said he was taken aback by Bryant’s composed appearance and demeanor during the interview. According to his testimony, Bryant admitted to prioritizing her own needs over those of her children—a 15-year-old boy and two girls aged 12 and 13.

“I hurt my children,” she allegedly told investigators. “I sacrificed my children, probably.” She also reportedly asked, “Is there anything I can do to help myself?”

Prosecutors revealed that phone data showed Bryant had saved her children’s contact information using generic labels such as “My oldest,” “Kid 1,” and “Kid 2.” In contrast, her children had listed her contact name as “World’s greatest mom,” or something similar.

The children were rescued in February following a welfare check prompted by the family’s landlord, who had not heard from Bryant since December and had not received rent payments since October. Sheriff Mike Bouchard described the scene deputies encountered as “abandonment, neglect, and abuse of the highest order.”

According to authorities, the children told deputies they had been living alone since 2020 or 2021. The home was reportedly filled with garbage piled up to four feet high, mold, overflowing toilets, and human waste—including feces in the bathtub. The girls had not seen their mother in years and the children had not attended school since being left alone.

Investigators said the children survived by watching TV and playing video games while food was occasionally dropped off by their mother or a stranger.

Neighbors told authorities they were aware that food was being delivered to the residence but had no idea children were living inside. Deputies said the children were wearing soiled clothing, had matted hair, and lacked basic hygiene skills when taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Detective Brish testified that the odor in the home was so overwhelming that it was comparable only to scenes involving decomposing bodies. An evidence technician processed the scene in a hazmat suit.

While Bryant’s attorney argued that the children appeared intelligent and articulate in interviews, Judge Cynthia Thomas Walker found sufficient evidence to advance the case to trial on charges of child abuse and welfare fraud.

“This is undoubtedly an extraordinary case,” the judge said.

Sheriff Bouchard emphasized the severity of the situation in a statement:

“Throughout my extensive career in this field, I have never encountered a scenario as dire and prolonged as this one. This level of neglect would be deemed intolerable for an animal—let alone children. These young girls had no contact with their mother and have been denied education for years. The consequences of this abuse are profound and must be addressed.”

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Bryant reportedly told investigators that the children’s father has not been involved in their lives. The children have since been placed in the custody of a relative by Child Protective Services.