The sentence followed a January conviction tied to the overnight confinement of six children, including a 2-month-old infant.
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Charles Dupriest to five years in prison and five years of extended supervision after jurors found he locked his six children overnight in a storage unit while he slept outside in an SUV.
The sentence closes the criminal trial phase of a case that drew wide attention because the children, ages 2 months to 9 years, were found in a dark unit with no running water or electricity and an orange bucket used as a toilet. Prosecutors said the case turned on neglect, not poverty. The children’s mother, Azyia Zielinski, earlier pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor neglect counts and received probation, leaving Dupriest as the last parent to be sentenced in the public criminal case.
Police were sent to the Storsafe facility at 5555 N. 27th St. at about 1:33 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2025, after a caller reported a crying child inside a locked unit. Officers heard crying and coughing from inside unit B58, saw a padlock on the garage-style door and called firefighters, who cut the lock and opened the space. According to the criminal complaint, officers found six children inside, from an infant to a 9-year-old, with only light coming through the crack of the door. Detective Newell wrote that a 5-year-old child said, “We’re not supposed to be loud,” then urinated in an orange bucket in the middle of the room. Another child told detectives he was responsible for his younger siblings when the parents were gone, had to soothe the baby and had no way to call for help if something went wrong.
Investigators and later trial testimony described the unit as cluttered and foul-smelling. The complaint said there was a sectional couch, a bare twin mattress, boxes of chips, milk and a case of soda, but no lights, electricity or running water. Detectives described the odor as “putrid” and said it was so strong they could not stay inside even after the door was open. A storage facility employee told police he had noticed problems months earlier. He said that in May 2025 he heard an adult male inside the same unit say, “Sit down and be quiet,” and later provided surveillance video that showed the children being dropped off there. The employee also recalled seeing a twin bed in the unit and said management issued an eviction notice. What remains less clear from the public record is exactly how many nights the children slept there, because accounts in the complaint differ on whether it was about a month and a half, three nights a week, or, in one child’s telling, for months.
The case also turned on what options the parents had before that night. In interviews with police, both adults said they were homeless. Zielinski said she had struggled to secure housing for years and that the family had been removed from Joy House in July after she gave birth. She told investigators the family got food from organizations, received WIC and food stamps, and had about $2,000 a month in Social Security benefits. Dupriest told jurors in January that he and Zielinski had fallen on hard times and were trying to keep the children from sleeping outside or in a vehicle with a broken back window. But prosecutors argued the evidence showed the children did not have to be in the storage unit at all. The complaint said both parents later admitted the children could have stayed with relatives or friends, and Dupriest’s older brother told detectives he did not know the family was living in a storage unit and wanted child protection authorities to place the children with relatives.
Jurors convicted Dupriest on Jan. 14 after less than 90 minutes of deliberation. Public coverage of the case described the verdict as guilty on nine charges, including child neglect counts and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. The gun charge became the most serious offense at sentencing because officers found a loaded firearm in the center console of the SUV where Dupriest and Zielinski were sleeping. Police also noted that the vehicle had three rows of seats, the middle row was open and the family dog was sleeping on a back seat while the children remained locked in the unit. On April 9, the judge imposed the five-year prison term and five years of extended supervision, matching the state’s recommendation. The judge also ordered Dupriest to complete parenting classes and receive mental health treatment during supervision. Local reports said he could have faced up to 14 years in prison. Zielinski, sentenced earlier on March 19, received 18 months of probation after a stayed House of Correction term.
The public record in the case is filled with details that prosecutors used to argue the children were left in conditions no child should have to endure. A 5-year-old child later told a forensic interviewer she felt “sad” when locked inside, had tried to open the door and was angry that the dog got to sleep in the car while she and her siblings slept in the unit. A 7-year-old said there were no lights and he would not know how to get out in an emergency. A 9-year-old said he had not eaten and found what he called a “jackpot” of snacks, then described taking care of the younger children when the adults were drunk or asleep. Before sentencing, Dupriest asked the court for mercy, saying the situation was serious and that his absence from his children had already harmed them. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Hasle urged the judge not to accept that as enough, saying, “Mr. Dupriest may love his children, but preventing future harm requires more than that. It requires accountability.” None of the children were reported injured when police found them, but their current placement has not been detailed in public reports.
With Dupriest now sentenced and Zielinski already on probation, the criminal case is mostly resolved in open court. The next public milestones are the start of Dupriest’s prison term and, later, the conditions that will govern his extended supervision after release, while any child welfare proceedings continue outside public view.
Author note: Last updated April 10, 2026.