Two people have been arrested after police said they found six children locked inside a storage unit in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last Tuesday.
Milwaukee police were dispatched to the storage units near 27th and Silver Spring after receiving a report of a child crying from inside a locked unit, according to court documents.
‘We’re not supposed to be loud.’
When they investigated the report, police said they heard a child crying and another coughing, so they brought in the Milwaukee Fire Department to cut off the unit’s padlock. Inside they found the children, ages 2, 3, 5, 7, and 9 years old, as well as a 2-month-old baby.
The unit had only a bucket for the children to relieve themselves, and police said there was just a small sliver of light coming through the crack of the door.
“We’re not supposed to be loud,” one child said to an officer.
The oldest child identified the parents as 33-year-old Charles Dupriest and 26-year-old Azyia Zielinski, and allegedly told police that they locked the children in the unit. He also said he was in charge of taking care of the baby and had no way to contact the parents in case of an emergency.
Dupriest and Zielinski would drink “tequila and vodka, become drunk, and slump over,” according to the child.
Police said the unit was in disarray and the smell inside was so “putrid” that they could not remain inside, even with the door open. There was a couch and a twin mattress without bedsheets for the children to sleep on. They found a box of chips, milk, and a case of soda. The unit had no electricity, lights, or running water.
Dupriest and Zielinski were found sleeping in an SUV in the parking lot of the storage facility, and they told police that they were homeless and slept in the car with their dog. Later, they admitted that the children could have stayed with family members.
Zielinski told police that they had been living in the storage unit for about a month and a half but had been trying to secure housing for seven years. She said they received support from the Women, Infants, and Children federal program; food stamps; and $2,000 in Social Security benefits.
Police said they claimed to have been “kicked out” of a rescue mission after she gave birth, but a spokesperson for the organization told WDJT-TV that they had claimed to have found permanent housing before leaving.
Zielinski made her first appearance in court on Friday, where she was berated by the court commissioner.
“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,” the commissioner said. “And what’s more disturbing than all of that are the statements that both you and father had made that you and the children could have stayed with family members.”
Both were charged with six counts of child neglect, while Dupriest also faced a charge of criminal possession of a weapon.
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