A pair of cold-hearted Milwaukee parents locked their six kids — including a 2-month-old baby — inside a storage unit while their dog was allowed to sleep in their car, according to police.
Charles Dupriest, 33, and his 26-year-old wife, Azyia Zielinski, were hit with child neglect charges after bystanders heard the youngsters crying inside the padlocked unit, Fox affiliate WITI-TV reported.
The shocking discovery came around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday after Milwaukee police received a 911 call, with firefighters cutting the padlock and finding the children in “putrid” conditions, with just a mattress, a couch, no electricity or running water, and a bucket full of urine, the outlet said.
Milwaukee police said Charles Dupriest and Azyia Zielinski left their six children locked inside a storage unit. Milwaukee Police Department
The six children, between 9 years and 2 months old, were forced to sleep on a mattress and a couch with no light. Milwaukee Police DepartmentOne of the children — who were between 9 years and 2 months old — told police they “weren’t supposed to be loud” after they were freed from the unit.
One of the kids, a 5-year-old girl, gave cops a heartbreaking description of their imprisonment.
“She said she tried to open the door but could not,” a court affidavit said, according to Law & Crime. “She reported using a bucket to urinate and defecate, sometimes with a bag placed inside.
“She said she was upset the dog got to sleep in the car while she and her siblings slept in the unit,” the document said. “[The giirl] stated her parents went to bed while the children were still awake. She said her father carried a firearm, pointing to her hip.”
Milwaukee police said a bystander heard the children crying in a storage unit and called 911 last week. FOXThe heartless parents were found nearby later snoozing in their SUV with the family dog.
According to a complaint, Dupriest and Zielinski told cops the family was booted from a local homeless shelter about a month earlier — but admitted they could have left the kids with friends or family.
They said the children were locked into the unit at least three times a week, and said the family was surviving on food stamps and monthly social security payments, WITI-TV reported.
The children also told police their dad had a gun, and would often give them “whoopings.”
Azyia Zielinski told police the couple’s children were locked inside the storage unit at least three times a week. FOXBoth parents were arraigned last week, with Zielinski charged with six counts of child neglect and Dupriest hit with six counts of child neglect and criminal possession of a weapon.
Zielinski and Dupriest are currently being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on bonds of $10,500 and $10,000 respectively, according to the reports.
