NEED TO KNOW
- A Wisconsin couple has been charged with child neglect for allegedly locking their six children in a storage unit
- Police in Milwaukee said they discovered the children — ages 9, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 2 months — in a storage unit on Sept. 16
- Authorities also stated that the kids had no plumbing or electricity and were forced to urinate in a bucket
Two parents in Wisconsin have been charged with multiple counts of child neglect after allegedly locking their six children in a storage unit.
Charles Dupriest, 33, and Azyia Zielinski, 26, have been charged with two counts of child neglect and four counts of neglecting a child under 6 years old, according to Milwaukee public court records. Dupriest has also been charged with possession of a firearm, per the records.
Police responded to a report of a child crying in a storage unit near 27th Street and Silver Spring Drive, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, CBS 58 , WISN 12 and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Milwaukee Police Department
Upon arriving at the scene, officers heard the sound of a child crying, as well as another child coughing, the outlets said.
The Milwaukee Fire Department arrived on the scene and cut the padlock off the unit, at which point six children — ages 9, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 2 months — were found inside, per the complaint, as reported by CBS 58, WISN 12 and the Journal Sentinel.
PEOPLE reached out to the Milwaukee Fire Department on Saturday, Sept. 20, but did not receive an immediate response.
Authorities stated that the unit contained a sofa, a bare mattress and one bucket used for urine. Officials also said the interior of the storage unit smelled “putrid,” and that the children’s sole source of light came from a crack at the bottom of the garage door, per the complaint.
The 9-year-old child allegedly told authorities that he was responsible for taking care of his five younger siblings, and that he was tasked with feeding the infant and holding her when she cried, according to the complaint, the Journal Sentinel reported. He also allegedly said that his parents would get drunk and give them all “whoopings.”
Milwaukee Police Department
The complaint further stated that officers found Dupriest and Zielinski sleeping in an SUV outside the storage unit with the family dog, per the Journal Sentinel.
The couple told police that they had been homeless for about six weeks, and Dupriest allegedly claimed that he had previously slept in the storage unit with the children, but stopped because their dog had “tore up the truck,” per the complaint, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Zielinski made her first appearance in court on Friday, Sept. 19, and became visibly emotional during a statement from the court commissioner, the outlet said.
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“We have your children stating that they had no food. That the only food they found was from the garbage. They didn’t have a bathroom. They used a bucket. And what’s more disturbing than all of that are the statements that both you and [their] father had made that you and the children could have stayed with family members,” the court commissioner said, per the outlet.
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PEOPLE reached out to the Milwaukee Police Department, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office and attorneys for both Dupriest and Zielinski on Saturday, Sept. 20, but did not receive immediate responses.
Zielinski is being held on bond for $5,000, while Dupriest is being held on bond of $20,000, public court records show.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.