Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Another disturbing child abuse and neglect case out of Oakland County.

A mother who frequently left her three children unattended in an apartment that lacked working plumbing and was littered with rotten food and human and animal feces was arraigned Wednesday on felony charges.

31-year-old Teriomas Tremice Johnson of Pontiac is charged with three counts of child abuse, second degree – a 10-year felony.

50th District Court Magistrate Angelena Thomas-Scruggs initially ordered Johnson held in the Oakland County Jail on $250,000 cash bond. But after the zoom arraignment, Johnson threw a chair and yelled an expletive at the magistrate. Thomas-Scruggs changed her mind and ordered Johnson held without bond.

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

Deputies began investigating the case on Friday after the oldest of the three children, a 12-year-old girl, reported what she believed was a possible break-in of their apartment on South Francis in Pontiac. Deputies determined the initial complaint was unfounded but discovered the apartment was in deplorable condition.

Johnson was not home at the time but her three children – the 12-year-old girl and her brother and sister, both age 9, were in the apartment along with three cats.

The children said they had not seen their mother since the previous day. Deputies located the mother in Ann Arbor, and she made her way back to Pontiac after about three hours. She was taken into custody due to the condition of the home and the children.

Besides the inoperable plumbing, detectives found that the sinks were clogged and it appeared the children had been defecating in a cardboard box in the bathroom. Detectives believe Johnson was not home often. The children were all enrolled in school, but their attendance was sporadic.

Johnson is on probation for 36 months after her conviction for retail fraud – first degree, fleeing and eluding – fourth degree, and fourth-degree child abuse out of 52-3 District Court in Rochester Hills. She fled from the police at the time with two of her children in the car.

Child Protective Services placed each child with their biological fathers.

Earlier this year in a similar case, a Pontiac mother – 34-year-old Kellie Marie Bryant – was charged with first-degree child abuse for leaving her three young children to live alone in absolute squalor for years, surviving only on weekly drop-offs of prepared food.

Bryant is awaiting trial in Oakland County Circuit Court. She is free on bond.