Court hearings continue for Pontiac mother accused of abandoning 3 children
A Pontiac mother accused of abandoning her children to live in squalid conditions participated in a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, but there are still more court dates to come in the case.
Kelli Bryant, 34, was facing three counts each of child abuse related to allegedly forcing her three children, a 15-year-old boy and a 13- and 12-year-old girl, to live in unbearable, filthy conditions in an apartment on Lydia Lane.
The court hearing took place on Wednesday afternoon in Sixth Circuit Court in Pontiac, with Judge Mary Ellen Brennan presiding. A jury trial had been scheduled for March 2. But according to statements in court, that will be postponed given that Bryant will undergo another competency hearing, and a follow-up pretrial will take place on May 27.
Bryant has already made roughly a dozen court appearances.
The landlord of Bryant's apartment contacted the Oakland County Sheriff's Office in February 2025, reporting that the rent had not been paid in months and he was concerned that something had happened. When law enforcement arrived, first responders wore gas masks and hazardous materials equipment because of the amount of trash and filth they say they saw.
As they were on site, deputies found the three children who were placed into the custody of a relative via Child Protective Services. None of them was attending school.
As the investigation continued, Bryant was charged with welfare fraud related to getting money from the state as support payments, where she received an alleged roughly $30,000. She later pleaded no contest to the welfare fraud case.
