Parents Charged For Locking Children In Storage Unit

Two Milwaukee parents have been charged after police found their six children, including a 2-month-old, locked inside a storage unit.

Authorities identified the parents as Charles Dupriest, 33, and Azyia Zielinski, 26. Both face child neglect charges after bystanders reported hearing children crying from inside the locked unit.

Police responded to a 911 call around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters cut the padlock and found the children — ages 9 years to 2 months — inside. According to reports, the unit contained a mattress and a couch but had no electricity or running water. Officers also found a bucket that the children used as a toilet.

One child told police they “weren’t supposed to be loud” while inside. Another said she used 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,” police reports stated. “[The girl] stated her parents went to bed while the children were still awake. She said her father carried a firearm, pointing to her hip.”

Police later located Dupriest and Zielinski sleeping in their SUV nearby with the family dog.

According to the criminal complaint, the couple said they had been removed from a local homeless shelter about a month earlier. They admitted the children had been left in the storage unit at least three times a week. The family was relying on food stamps and monthly Social Security payments.

Both parents have been arraigned. Zielinski faces six counts of child neglect, and Dupriest faces six counts of child neglect along with a charge of criminal possession of a weapon.

They remain in the Milwaukee County Jail, where bail was set at $10,500 for Zielinski and $10,000 for Dupriest, according to reports.