Landlord says woman arrested in child’s hot home death had financial woes

A woman has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of a Las Vegas 5-year-old who police believe perished after being left in a hot house with no air conditioning.

Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Spencer confirmed the child’s death was believed to be heat-related and said that police abuse and neglect detectives are handling the case. The child’s mother, Kemaya Taylor, 23, was booked Tuesday into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of open murder and two counts of child abuse or neglect.

Police records show that officers were called at 7:02 p.m. Monday to a home on the 10200 block of Missouri Meadows Street, near East Pyle Avenue and South Maryland Parkway. A second child was also present at the home and survived. Further details on what police encountered at the home were not immediately released, but the woman’s landlord told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday that Taylor was struggling financially.

“Earlier in the month she failed to pay her rent, so I texted her to make sure she was OK,” said the landlord, who was granted anonymity by the Review-Journal. “She put her notice in, saying she would be leaving in another month after (she) paid in full.”

The landlord said she came to check on the woman earlier in the month and found her in a state of disarray.

“She was in a mess,” the woman said. “Her hair was all a mess, the whole house was a mess, and she was packing. That’s when I said, ‘You know, I think it is not good you are all by yourself with two kids. You should get in touch with your family,’ and she said, ‘I have no one.’ ”

The landlord said she was shocked and heartbroken to learn of the child’s death Monday. She said neighbors informed her that Taylor was acting erratically before police arrived.

“(The neighbors) saw her out front, all her clothes out in the driveway,” the landlord said. “She had one of her babies in her arms in that heat with blankets covering her baby … in a fetal position. She kept saying, ‘I’m son of Jacob. I killed her.’ She got up and started smashing windows of cars around here.

“How can you do that? At 23 she is a kid herself with two children. How can you do that? It is enough to drive anybody crazy I guess with no help. My heart goes out … to the kids as well as her because they are all victims I think.”

A request for a mug shot and arrest report was denied early Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police Department, which cited the ongoing investigation.

Taylor is due to appear in court Thursday for a 72-hour hearing in the case. She refused to be transported from the jail for an initial appearance Tuesday.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter. Contact Renee Summerour at rsummerour@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SummerourTV on Twitter.