Mother Arrested After Child Found Dead In 101-Degree Room During Heat Wave

A Las Vegas mother was arrested after her five-year-old daughter died while locked inside of a room without air conditioning. As the temperatures soared above 100 degrees, Kemaya Taylor, 23, locked her two children, ages 5 and 2, inside a bedroom and set a humidifier to the max setting.

When officers arrived at the home, Taylor refused to tell them where her children were. She eventually told the officers they were locked in their room upstairs.

The officers rushed up the steps, kicked down the door, and found the two-year-old girl standing next to the door and the five-year-old unconscious on the bed. They attempted to perform CPR until paramedics arrived. They were unable to save the young girl and pronounced her dead at the scene. The other girl was taken to the hospital and showed no signs of injuries.

Officials said that the temperature in the home was around 95 degrees, but the temperature in the bedroom was recorded at 101 degrees.

In the arrest report, the responding officer wrote that Taylor "seemed to be suffering from some sort of mental illness." She told the police that "it was a necessary sacrifice," refused to be read her rights, and asked to be taken to an "insane asylum."

Police interviewed Taylor's neighbors, who said she had been acting odd for the past few weeks. In one instance, Taylor was seen outside in the excessive heat with one of her children wrapped in several blankets. They also told police that she said "I killed it" and claimed that she was "the son of Jacob."

Taylor was charged with murder and child abuse and is being held without bail.