A Wisconsin couple is facing neglect charges after their six children were found locked inside a filthy storage unit in Milwaukeee, according to court documents.
Authorities said the children ranged in age from 2 months to 9 years old.
Police responded to the scene after someone reported a child crying inside one of the facility’s lockers, WISN-TV reported.
Firefighters were dispatched to the scene to cut a lock to open the unit.
Inside, they found children ages 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, and the infant.
None of the children appeared to be injured, NBC News reported.
But according to the criminal complaint, detectives found a bucket “containing urine” in the center of the unit that the children were apparently using as a toilet.
They said there was no electricity or running water in the unit.
“The only light these poor children had to have was the crack of light that came to the bottom of the garage [door]. We have your children stating that they had no food, that the only food they found was from the garbage,” Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Andrea Bolender told the children’s mother at a hearing, WISN reported.
Bolender added that the parents of the children were lucky none of them died.
The complaint described the smell inside as “putrid” and that one of the children had urinated in the bucket during their investigation.
The 9-year-old told investigators he was responsible for caring for his siblings.
Six children were found in a locked storage unit in Milwaukee, leading to charges of child neglect against their parents, who were found sleeping in a nearby car. Detective Andrew Farina described the scene after responding to an unusual 911 call. https://t.co/CBHtrxRvJf pic.twitter.com/4LTWp7pRg2
— WISN 12 NEWS (@WISN12News) September 26, 2025
He said they used the bucket “to urinate and defecate” and had no way to contact anyone for help.
An employee of the storage facility told police he had overheard an adult male telling the children, “Sit down and be quiet” in May.
Officers said the parents of the children, Charles Albert Dupriest, 33, and Azyia C. Zielinski, 26, were sleeping in an SUV in a nearby parking lot.
Both admitted they slept in the vehicle with their dog while the children were locked in the unit.
The couple was reportedly receiving food stamps and $2,000 a month in Social Security benefits.
One child told police she was upset that the dog slept in the SUV while the kids were forced to stay in the storage unit.
Prosecutors charged Dupriest with possession of a firearm by a felon and six counts of child neglect.
Zielinski faces six counts of child neglect, WISN reported.
Investigators said the couple told them they had stayed at Joy House, a Milwaukee Rescue Mission shelter for women and children, in the past, but they were “kicked out” in July.
Patrick Vanderburgh, president and CEO of the mission, said, “While we must respect and maintain the confidentiality of our guests and their families, we can share that during [the family’s] most recent stay, we were able to verify that the family had secured permanent housing before leaving Joy House.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.