3 Pontiac children found living in deplorable conditions after calling police about possible break-in

Pontiac mother charged with child abuse

Teriomas Tremice Johnson, 31, was arraigned Wednesday on three counts of second-degree child abuse charges after police responded to the home where her three kids were staying, later finding the children living in deplorable conditions.

PONTIAC, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Pontiac mother is now facing abuse charges after her three children were found living in a filthy apartment that lacked working plumbing.

Teriomas Tremice Johnson, 31, was arraigned Wednesday on three counts of second-degree child abuse charges.

What we know:

According to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, a 12-year-old girl called police to report that she thought someone was breaking into her apartment on South Francis. Deputies arrived and found that there was not a break-in, but did discover that the girl and her siblings, a 9-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl, were all home alone in deplorable conditions. They told deputies that they hadn't seen their mother since the previous day.

The sheriff's office said that the home had no working plumbing, a sink was clogged, and the children appeared to have been defecating in a box. Additionally, the apartment was allegedly full of rotten food, and human and animal feces. Three cats were also in the home.

"It defies understanding how parents blessed with the gift of a child could show such cruelty," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. "The complete lack of compassion and humanity is heartbreaking, and I am eager to see justice served for this unconscionable act."

Johnson was in Ann Arbor at the time that deputies were at her home, and came back to Pontiac after about three hours. The sheriff's office said Johnson would frequently leave her children alone.

The children were enrolled in school but attended classes sporadically.

Dig deeper:

This is not the first time Johnson has been in trouble with the law.

According to the sheriff's office, she is on probation for retail fraud, fleeing police, and child abuse. The child abuse conviction comes after authorities say she fled police with two of her children in her vehicle. 

What's next:

Johnson was initially given a $250,000 cash bond. However, during her arraignment over Zoom, she threw a chair and yelled an expletive at the judge. 

Oakland County Magistrate Angelena Thomas-Scruggs then changed her mind and denied Johnson bond. She remains in the Oakland County Jail.

The children are with their biological fathers.

Big picture view:

This is the second time this year that children have been found living in squalor in Pontiac.

In February, Kellie Bryant was arrested after her three children were found living alone in a home filled with trash and feces. Bryant allegedly left her children alone in the home while she lived somewhere else, and would occasionally drop off food. 

Bryant's case is still open. 

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Three kids live alone in Pontiac home for years, found living in severe filth; mom arrested

Three children were living in filth and squalor for years, sleeping on pizza boxes and unable to even flush a toilet, the Oakland County Sheriff said.