Miami mom accused of locking up 9-year-old daughter for years

News

By Ronny Reyes

A Miami mom was arrested for allegedly keeping her 9-year-old daughter trapped inside the house for years, forcing the little girl to beg for food and neglecting her basic needs, police said.

Kelli McGriff-Williams, 42, stood before a judge Thursday facing allegations that she locked up her daughter between 2017 and 2023, confining her “the majority of the time to a bedroom,” according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.

“The victim would have to beg to eat, and the defendant would not always provide food to the victim,” police wrote in the arrest report.

The child was also deprived of any medical visits “even when she has been very ill,” officials noted. In addition, the little girl can neither read nor write, and never got a proper education, ABC News reports.

McGriff-Williams was involuntarily admitted to the Jackson South Hospital on Aug. 26 due to her “altered mental state,” police said.

Authorities took the mom into custody following an investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families into the alleged abuse.

The child was taken into police custody and confirmed the allegations detailed in the state’s investigation, authorities said,. The University of Miami Child Protection Team concluded the child suffered instances of “child neglect, medical neglect, mental injury and educational neglect.”

The victim’s dad, who wasn’t publicly identified, also confirmed the allegations and said he’s been trying to get legal custody of his daughter for the past five years.

Following the interviews with the child and her father, McGriff-Williams was discharged from the hospital and booked Sept. 3.

McGriff-Williams has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony child neglect, and was being held on a $5,000 bond.

A representative for McGriff-Williams could not be immediately reached for comment.