Michigan mom lived glamorous fun life... but behind closed doors things were VERY different

Daily Mail​

19-05-2025

A Michigan mother has been charged after her three children were found abandoned in horrific conditions for years while she kept up with her glamorous lifestyle.
Kelli Bryant, 34, is facing three counts of first-degree child abuse and three counts of welfare fraud, according to WDIV.
In February, her children, a boy aged 15 and two girls, aged 13 and 12, were found to have been staying in a feces and trash-covered home in Pontiac.
Police said at a hearing on Friday that because the house was so filthy they were advised to wear hazmat suits and expected to find a dead body due to the smell, reported WXYZ.
'The most notable observation was what appeared to be feces covering their clothing and their hair,' Detective John Brish said. 'I'd never smelt a home that smelled that bad without a decomposing body present.'
Brish testified that he was stunned when Bryant came to the police station to be interviewed, looking drastically different from her kids.
'Her appearance was the most surprising... her hair was done, she was wearing what appeared to be clean, she had long fake nails,' he said.
The detective told the court that Bryant admitted to hurting her children and repeatedly asked how she could help herself throughout the interview.
'She knew that her actions were selfish, that's her wording, and that it made her children sick and that she had ultimately sacrificed her children for her own purposes,' Brish said.
'I would speak on the severity of the situation and my concerns for the children and their path to recovery and moving forward, and typically, her response would be "Is there anything I can do to help myself?"'
Police came to do a wellness check after the landlord became concerned that he hadn't heard from their mother since December, and the rent was last paid in October.
Upon arrival, deputies discovered the shocking conditions the children had been left in after they were abandoned in 2021.
Trash was piled as high as four feet in some rooms, mold and human waste was found throughout, with the toilet overflowing and feces in the bathtub, the sheriff's office said.
The boy told them he and his sisters lived alone after being abandoned, and they survived on prepared food dropped off by their mother or a stranger on the front porch each week.
No personal hygiene items or toilet paper were provided to the kids, and they also appeared to be unaware of how to use such items or know how to flush a toilet.
An investigator for the prosecutor's office testified that the children had their mom in their phone's contact labeled as 'World's greatest mom.'
Bryant allegedly had her children's contact information on her phone labeled as 'My oldest,' 'Kid 1' and 'Kid 2.'
Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy Quincy Curtis said the boy had extremely long toenails and had trouble walking straight.
'They were very frightened,' Curtis said. 'I didn't think it was a suitable place for anyone to be living.'
Bryant previously pleaded not guilty to the child abuse charges, and a judge ruled on Friday that the case can go to trial. She is being held on a $50,000 bond at the Oakland County Jail.
Her defense team argued because the children weren't mentally or physically harmed, it was not a child abuse case.
'Those children were articulate. They were answering questions. They were asking for clarification,' said Cecilia Quirindongo Baunsoe, Bryant's defense attorney.