PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — “I sacrificed my children." That is a direct quote detectives read in court Friday from 34-year-old Kelli Bryant during her preliminary examination.
That evidence and more resulted in the judge ultimately sending Bryant to trial on three counts of first-degree child abuse and three counts of welfare fraud.
Watch the video report after Kelli Bryant was bound over for trial below:
Bryant is the mother of the three children found abandoned, living in mold, feces and squalor this past February.
"The most notable observation was what appeared to be feces covering their clothing and their hair," Detective John Brish said.
Extended sound: John Brish with the Oakland County Sheriff's Office talks about the Pontiac mom case in court
On Feb. 14, Oakland County sheriff’s detectives were horrified to find three children, ages 12, 13 and 15, living in squalor and abandoned in a Pontiac home for four to five years.
"I’d never smelt a home that smelled that bad without a decomposing body present," he said.
On Friday, three months later, their mother was in court physically for the first time for her preliminary examination.
Prosecutors brought forth the detectives who found her children and who interviewed Bryant herself. Brish said he’ll never forget meeting Bryant at the police station, one hour after they found her kids hiding in a bathtub full of feces.
Related Video: Crews begin cleaning out home where Pontiac kids were left abandoned
"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.
Detectives say Bryant was always living within walking distance of the children she abandoned. She hadn’t touched them or given them hygiene products for years. She would have food dropped off to them about once a week.
"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.
According to detectives, Bryant’s children were found in soiled clothes, hunched over with toenails several inches long.
The two youngest girls started their menstrual cycles in the home and were only given pads once.
Previous coverage: Pontiac mom pleads not guilty to child abuse
Bryant admitted to telling the children to never leave or open the front door, purposefully instilling a deep fear in them.
"In those interviews, the court heard from all three victims of their irrational fear of strangers, pedophiles and being blackmailed," said Kanika Ferency, assistant prosecutor at the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office.
Further evidence brought forth revealed that Bryant would communicate mostly to the oldest boy through sporadic texts.
He had his mother listed in his phone as “world’s greatest mom.” She had her children listed as “my oldest,” “kid 1” and “kid 2.”
"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?’" Brish said.
Detectives said that Bryant told them she lied to all of her family to keep her children hidden; she took the batteries out of the smoke detector in the home, so there was no risk of the fire department or any police officers ever coming by.
Related Video: Prosecutor Karen McDonald announces child abuse charges in Pontiac case
The defense argues that after the children were discovered, in their CARE House interviews, the children did not seem to be suffering from severe mental harm.
"Those children were articulate. They were answering questions. They were asking for clarification," said Cecilia Quirindongo Baunsoe, Bryant's defense attorney.
Ultimately, the judge did not agree. She sent Bryant to stand trial.
"There is no question that this is an extraordinary case," said Judge Cynthia Thomas Walker.
One critical piece of evidence we did not see Friday was the children’s interviews with CARE House. The judge said that the interviews were overwhelming in terms of showing the mental and physical harm inflicted on the children.
