PONTIAC, Mich. – The Oakland County mother who pleaded no contest in a child abuse case where her three children were living in “deplorable conditions” was sentenced to prison on Tuesday.
Teriomas Tremice Johnson, 31, pleaded no contest to three counts of second-degree child abuse after authorities said her three young children were left unattended in an apartment in Pontiac littered with rotten food and human and animal waste.
Johnson was sentenced on April 14.
Background
The investigation into Johnson began in November 2025 after an alleged break-in at a Pontiac apartment was reported by a 12-year-old girl.
Responding officers said they found no evidence of a break-in but found the home in deplorable conditions.
Police said the mother was not present and that three children -- the 12-year-old and two 9-year-olds -- were living with three cats, clogged sinks, and inoperable plumbing, causing them to use a cardboard box as a makeshift toilet.
The children said they hadn’t seen their mom since the day prior.
The three were enrolled in school, but authorities said their attendance was inconsistent.
Child Protective Services placed the children with family members.
Johnson was taken into custody shortly after and charged with three counts of second-degree child abuse.
Authorities said she was on probation after being convicted of retail fraud, fleeing and eluding, and fourth-degree child abuse after allegedly fleeing from police with two of her children in the car.
After she reportedly threw a chair and cursed at the magistrate during her arraignment, Johnson was ordered to be held without bond.
In February, Johnson pleaded no contest to the three child abuse charges.
‘I am ashamed’
On April 14, Johnson appeared in court for her sentencing.
The Oakland County mother read a letter she wrote to Judge Yasmine Poles in court regarding the charges she pleaded no contest to.
“I would like to first extend my deepest and most sincere apology to my beautiful and most precious children,” she read. “They deserve so, so much more than what I have provided them.”
Johnson said she had been struggling to cope with the loss of her mother, her children’s grandmother.
“After my mother passed suddenly, I became a mother I didn’t recognize or even thought I was capable of being,” Johnson said. “I am ashamed of the mother I allowed myself to become.”
She also said she tried to find resources for her mental health.
“I have faith that, with mandated help from this court to help me with my mental health and grief, I can get back to being the mother I was and used to always be,” Johnson said. “God works in mysterious ways, and I have asked this court for help and resources I couldn’t find on my own. Your honor, I truly love my children. They are my life. I want to be a mother they deserve.”
‘You call yourself a mother?’
Immediately after Johnson finished reading her letter, Poles responded.
“Ms. Johnson, I think you’re a selfish liar. That’s what I think of you, okay? I want to be very clear because this isn’t the first time you and I have seen each other,” said Poles.
Poles said she sentenced Johnson to probation in a fleeing and eluding case where Johnson stole $3,000 worth of merchandise and drove away from police while two of her children were in the car with her.
“You stood in front of me and told me that you were going to do better, that you made a mistake, that you were going to care for those kids,” Poles said regarding Johnson’s previous conviction. “The fact that you stood in front of me and lied then, when those kids were probably in that same situation at that time, sickens me as a judge -- Should sicken the whole community that you could be that evil, that you could stand here when I could provide any resource for you at that time.”
Poles said the previous conviction in 2024 was before Johnson’s grandmother died, contradicting Johnson’s reasoning for leaving her children in “deplorable conditions.”
“If you needed resources and help, they could have been the people to provide it to you. But you didn’t. What you did, said, ‘I don’t care about these kids, it doesn’t matter to me what happens to them, they can miss a meal, they can live there with feces and dirt and disgusting situation without a place to sleep.’ And you call yourself a mother? That has nothing to do with poverty lines. That has nothing to do with mental health. Because if it was mental health, you’d be sitting right in there with them, right? We would have found you with them. But we didn’t because CPS tried calling you. The police tried calling you. And you weren’t picking up your phone because you were busy living your life. You were warm, you didn’t miss a meal, you didn’t care about them. So, I am disgusted by the fact that you’re in front of me now saying, ‘Oops, it was just a mistake.’ You thought through it. You knew exactly what you were doing. And I’m so sad for those kids. I’m so sad that I played a part in believing you the first time that I sentenced you and gave you an opportunity at probation. So we are done. There is no sympathy.”
Johnson was sentenced to 129 months to 20 years in prison. She was ordered not to contact her children directly or indirectly.