PONTIAC, Mich. - A Pontiac mother was charged in February 2025 for allegedly abandoning her children and leaving them in what officials described as squalor for years. She later pleaded no contest to multiple charges and is now in prison.

Kelli Bryant, 35, pleaded no contest to three counts of first-degree child abuse on July 16.

Update: Pontiac mom accused of abandoning her 3 kids for years to spend at least 6 years in prison

Kelli Bryant in court on July 16, 2026. (WDIV)

In February 2025, Bryant was charged with 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 in squalor.

Prosecutors said the children were left home alone for several years.

Officials said garbage was piled as high as four feet in some rooms and that mold and feces were found throughout the home.

They survived on food drop-offs that Bryant sent using services like DoorDash and Instacart, but they allegedly were never sent toilet paper, soap or shampoo during their abandonment.

Her parental rights were terminated in family court in April.

Bryant also pleaded no contest to three counts of welfare fraud in December. She was sentenced on the welfare charges in June.

She was sentenced on Sept. 1 to six to 30 years in prison on the child abuse charges.

#clickondetroit   #CrimeInTheD ®