A MARRIED couple has been arrested after their six young children were found living alone inside a locked storage unit with no running water or electricity, cops say.
Charles Dupriest, 33, and Azyia Zielinski, 26, were accused of sleeping outside in an SUV with their dog while the children, including an infant, were forced to use a bucket as a toilet.
Azyia Zielinski was arrested and accused of locking her six children in a storage unit[/caption]
Charles Dupriest and his wife allegedly slept in a car in a parking lot while their children suffered in ‘putrid’ conditions[/caption]
They were arrested on Tuesday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after cops responded to a report that a child was crying inside a unit, a criminal complaint seen by Law & Crime alleges.
According to the Milwaukee Police Department, a padlock had been secured on the outside of the unit, and the fire department had to cut it open.
Once first responders made it inside, they noticed a “putrid” smell and found six children, aged 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, and 2 months, sleeping inside, according to the affidavit.
Disturbing scene photos taken by officials captured a grimy sectional pressed up against a dirty mattress, with clothes piled everywhere.
There were no windows inside the unit, and the only light came from a crack underneath the storage building’s garage, cops said.
In the middle of the room was a bucket filled with urine that all of the children were forced to use, the criminal complaint states.
Snacks, water, and milk were all left askew in the unit, according to the disturbing pictures.
When a detective started asking the five-year-old questions, the child said, “We’re not supposed to be loud,” and later urinated in the bucket.
After the 9-year-old was woken up by police, he told detectives that he was “responsible for caring for his five younger siblings” when the adults were away, the affidavit states.
The eldest child said that they were stuck in the storage unit about 50% of the time, and that he was told to give the baby a bottle or a pacifier when she cried.
Detectives wrote that they had to leave the storage unit because the stench was so strong they couldn’t stand to stay there.
About 40 minutes later, Dupriest and Zielinski were found outside sleeping in a Ford Expedition with their dog.
The car had an empty row of seats in the back, and a middle row that was also empty save for the dog, cops wrote in the complaint.
The couple said that they were homeless and had been kicked out of a shelter around a year and a half ago, according to court documents.
The unit was part of a storage facility in Milwaukee[/caption]
An L-shaped couch was shoved against a grimy mattress[/caption]
Both of them admitted to sleeping in the car without the children, and said they were getting food stamps and $2,000 a month each in Social Security benefits.
When detectives searched the car, they found a firearm in the console, and Zielinski said it was her’s, adding that both of their DNA would be on the gun, the complaint states.
The five-year-old child expressed anger at the fact that she was locked out of the car, and allegedly said that Dupriest gave them “whoopings.”
The couple allegedly admitted there were friends and family who could have cared for the children.
Detectives later spoke to a family member who was stunned to hear of their living conditions, and also admitted the children could have found a place to stay.
‘HORRIFIC’ CRIME
In a bond hearing, the court commissioner told a sobbing Zielinski she was lucky that none of the children had died.
“This is horrific,” Court Commissioner Andrea Bolender said.
“You are supposed to protect them, and these children are now going to have lifelong scars that are going to affect every aspect of their lives.”
Zielinski has been charged with four counts of child neglect of children under six and two counts of child neglect.
Dupriest was hit with the same charges, as well as possession of a firearm by a felon.
Zielinski’s bail was set at $5,000, and her preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Thursday.
Dupriest’s bond was set at $20,000, and he will also have a hearing Thursday.
