PONTIAC, MI — A 31-year-old Pontiac mother is behind bars without bond after authorities say she left her three children alone in an apartment filled with filth, rotting food, and feces.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says Teriomas Tremice Johnson is charged with three counts of second-degree child abuse, a 10-year felony. Magistrate Angelena Thomas-Scruggs initially set Johnson’s bond at $250,000, but after Johnson allegedly threw a chair and cursed during her virtual arraignment, the judge revoked bond entirely.
Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the case is one of the worst examples of parental neglect he’s seen.
“It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty,” Bouchard said. “The complete lack of compassion and humanity is heartbreaking, and I am eager to see justice served for this unconscionable act.”
Deputies began investigating last Friday after the oldest child, a 12-year-old girl, called police about what she thought was a break-in at their South Francis Street apartment. When officers arrived, they found the apartment in deplorable condition, without working plumbing, and with feces and garbage throughout the home.
Johnson was not home. Her three children, the 12-year-old and her twin 9-year-old siblings, were inside with three cats. The children told deputies they hadn’t seen their mother since the previous day.
After locating Johnson in Ann Arbor, deputies brought her back to Pontiac about three hours later. She was arrested and taken to the Oakland County Jail.
Investigators later found the sinks clogged and evidence that the children had been defecating in a cardboard box because of the lack of plumbing. Detectives believe Johnson was rarely home.
Johnson is already on probation for prior convictions including retail fraud, fleeing and eluding, and fourth-degree child abuse. Child Protective Services has since placed the three children with their biological fathers.
The sheriff’s office also noted a similar case earlier this year involving another Pontiac mother, Kellie Marie Bryant, charged with first-degree child abuse for leaving her three young children alone in squalor. Bryant remains free on bond awaiting trial in Oakland County Circuit Court.
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