Pontiac mother Kelli Bryant gets 30 years for abandoning three kids — who survived years on food left outside the door

A Michigan mother has been sentenced to 6 to 30 years in prison after abandoning her three children for several years, authorities said.

Kelli Bryant, 35, is from Pontiac, Michigan.

Bryant pleaded no contest to three counts of aggravated child abuse, court records show. The agreement allowed the children to avoid having to publicly testify at trial.

On September 1, 2026, a judge sentenced the mother to 6 to 30 years in prison.

The sentence could keep her behind bars until all three children have reached adulthood, authorities said.

In February 2025, authorities discovered the children, who were 15, 13 and 12 years old at the time.

The trio had reportedly been living alone since around 2020 or 2021 in an apartment described as being in extremely poor condition, police said.

The apartment reportedly had no running water and no functioning toilet. Inside the home, garbage, mold and human waste were found, police said.

The children were no longer attending school and rarely, if ever, left the apartment, authorities said.

They survived on food their mother would periodically leave outside the door, according to investigators.

Bryant allegedly instructed the children not to open the door or leave the apartment, police said.

The defendant also reportedly hid their situation from relatives and lied about where they were living, investigators said.

The case was discovered after the landlord became concerned about unpaid rent and requested a welfare check at the property.

Bryant had also previously been sentenced to two years of probation for welfare fraud, records show. That sentence followed her receiving nearly $29,400 in benefits she allegedly was not entitled to receive.

In April 2026, her parental rights were permanently terminated.

The three children are now living with another family member and receiving support to recover from the years of alleged neglect.