A Central Florida mother has been arrested on multiple child neglect charges after deputies discovered she left her four children home alone for several days while she traveled out of state for work. The investigation began when emergency dispatchers received a distressing call from inside the residence.
According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a 911 call placed just after 8:30 p.m. on October 21. The call was made by one of the children after her 9-year-old brother suffered an injury when a dumbbell fell onto his head. Deputies arrived at the home to find that no adults were present. First responders also rushed to the scene and transported the injured 9-year-old boy to Celebration Hospital for medical treatment.
Investigators determined that four children, aged 14, 12, 11, and 9, had been left entirely unsupervised in the home. Deputies quickly established contact with the children’s mother, identified as 50-year-old Irene Miller of Kissimmee. Miller informed law enforcement that she was away on a work trip in Las Vegas and was not scheduled to return until October 23.
According to investigators, Miller had departed for her trip on October 18. She told authorities that she had arranged for a babysitter traveling from Tampa to arrive in the mornings to get the children ready for school and check on them afterward. However, Miller acknowledged that the arrangement did not require the babysitter to stay overnight with the minors.
Following the incident, the 9-year-old boy was treated and subsequently released from the hospital. Detectives with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office contacted the children’s father, who agreed to take custody of the children and brought them to his home.
To intercept the mother upon her return, Osceola County detectives coordinated plans to meet Miller as she deplaned from her flight arriving from Las Vegas at Orlando International Airport that Friday. Miller was arrested as she exited the aircraft and subsequently charged with four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm. Following her arrest at the airport, she was booked into the Orange County jail.
