OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – The Oakland County mother accused of abandoning her three kids for years is back in court Friday.
Kelli Bryant, 34, of Pontiac, is facing three counts of first-degree child abuse after authorities found her three children — a 15-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl, and a 12-year-old girl — living alone. She also faces welfare fraud charges.
Oakland County Deputy Quincy Curtis was the first witness called to testify during the hearing.
You can watch the deputy’s full testimony in the video at the top of this article.
He was called to the Pontiac home in February for a welfare check. Deputies had been called for a welfare check the day before, but didn’t get inside the home, and when Quincy arrived the following day, the landlord was there with a locksmith.
The landlord told Curtis that he hadn’t seen or heard from the tenant in a while and hadn’t received payment from her for some time.
When Curtis walked into the home through the garage, he saw a large mold stain on the ceiling, along with feces and trash everywhere.
After that, he entered the home and said there were also piles of trash, feces, and cobwebs throughout the inside of the home as well.
He recalled the foul odor and said he thought they’d be “checking the apartment for a dead body,” due to the smell.
Curtis said he encountered a locked door, and when he turned to check the other doors, he could hear crying coming from that first locked door, so he went back to it.
He said he told the children they were safe and they needed to come out so he could check on them. As he did this, the oldest child came out of one of the closed bedroom doors.
The boy had extremely long toenails and had a hard time walking straight, according to the deputy.
After their brother had asked them to, the other two children opened the door.
When they came out, they were really hunched over, standing close to each other, holding hands, and wouldn’t look up, according to Curtis.
“They were very frightened,” he said, recalling when he tried to talk to the children.
Curtis said the children had a hard time figuring out how to spell their names when asked and had to talk amongst themselves to figure it out.
Child Protective Services was contacted.
“I didn’t think it was a suitable place for anyone to be living,” said Curtis as he recalled the welfare check.
The three children were taken to the hospital and were given hygiene supplies, including toothbrushes, toothpaste and shower products.
He said the children were confused about how to brush their teeth and didn’t understand how to flush the toilet. After they brushed their teeth, there was allegedly blood in the sink.
Curtis said he didn’t recall seeing any hygiene products when they searched the home.
The deputy said the kids waited until all three of them were together to eat and even then wouldn’t eat unless everyone else stepped outside of the room.
Bryant’s attorney, Cecilia Quirindongo-Baunsoe, implied that the children could have been scared because they probably aren’t familiar with strangers, especially an officer, being in their home.
The defense attorney also argued that the blood in the sink may not have been a result of the children brushing their teeth because Curtis didn’t watch the children brush their teeth.