|
Kelli Bryant, 34, shook her head at times during her first court
appearance on child abuse charges in Oakland County. Her lawyer
entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf.
Three children, ages 15, 13 and 12, were removed last week from
a house in Pontiac where they had lived on their own since 2020
or 2021, amid trash and feces and occasional food drops on the
porch, police said.
Defense attorney Cecilia Quirindongo-Baunsoe acknowledged the
“very serious case,” but she said Bryant was not a risk to the
community and could be released from jail with an electronic
monitoring device.
Judge Ronda Fowlkes Gross, however, set the extraordinary cash
bond and said Bryant was an "acute risk" to the public.
The children were hiding when police entered the home Friday
after a call from the landlord, who had not been paid since
October. Authorities said the toilet didn't work and feces were
found in the tub and other places. Bryant was living elsewhere
in Pontiac.
“There's a multitude of reasons why they didn’t leave the home,”
prosecutor Karen McDonald said of the siblings. “We just don’t
know that yet.”
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
