Couple Charged After Their 6 Children Were Allegedly Locked in a ‘Putrid’ Storage Unit with a Urine Bucket

Two parents in Wisconsin have been charged with multiple counts of child neglect after allegedly locking their six children in a storage unit.

Charles Dupriest, 33, and Azyia Zielinski, 26, face two counts of child neglect and four counts of neglecting a child under 6 years old, according to Milwaukee public court records. Dupriest is also charged with possession of a firearm.

Police responded to a report about children in a storage unit near 27th Street and Silver Spring Drive, Milwaukee Police told PEOPLE in a statement.

When officers arrived, they heard a child crying and another child coughing, according to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, reported by CBS 58, WISN 12, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Milwaukee Fire Department arrived and cut the padlock off the unit. Inside, they found six children — ages 9, 7, 5, 3, 2, and 2 months — according to the complaint.

Authorities said the storage unit contained only a sofa, a bare mattress, and one bucket used for urine. Officials also said the unit smelled “putrid” and the only light came from a crack at the bottom of the garage door.

The 9-year-old reportedly told authorities that he had to take care of his five younger siblings, including feeding and holding the infant when she cried. He also said the parents would get drunk and give them all “whoopings,” the Journal Sentinel reported.

The complaint added that Dupriest and Zielinski were found sleeping in an SUV outside the storage unit with the family dog. The couple told police they had been homeless for about six weeks. Dupriest allegedly said he had previously slept in the storage unit with the children but stopped because their dog “tore up the truck,” according to the Journal Sentinel.

Zielinski appeared in court on Friday, Sept. 19, and became visibly emotional during a statement from the court commissioner, the outlet reported.

The court commissioner said, “We have your children stating that they had no food. That the only food they found was from the garbage. They didn’t have a bathroom. They used a bucket. And what’s more disturbing than all of that are the statements that both you and [their] father had made that you and the children could have stayed with family members,” per the outlet.

PEOPLE reached out to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office and attorneys for both Dupriest and Zielinski on Saturday, Sept. 20, but did not get immediate responses.

Zielinski is being held on a $5,000 bond, while Dupriest is held on a $20,000 bond, according to public court records.