‘It was a necessary sacrifice,’ mother told police after child found dead in hot bedroom, report says

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Neighbors and a friend told police that murder suspect Kemaya Taylor had been acting strangely in the days before her arrest after her two daughters were found locked in a hot bedroom.

A 5-year-old girl died, and her 2-year-old sister was rescued.

According to Taylor’s arrest report, a friend of hers became concerned when “she received a text from Taylor that she perceived as a vague suicidal threat.” The friend requested a welfare check on June 16, and officers went to the home but couldn’t find Taylor or her children.

On June 28, police officers made contact with Taylor and said her home was in “complete disarray” and that it appeared Taylor “was suffering from some sort of mental illness,” the report stated. The officers took Taylor into custody, searched the house and came across a locked bedroom door upstairs.

The officers kicked the door open and discovered the two girls. The younger girl was standing next to the bed and the 5-year-old was on the bed unresponsive. One of the officers began CPR on the child until medical personnel arrived and pronounced the girl dead.

The report said the air conditioning in the house was not on and “the temperature in the bedroom felt exponentially warmer than the rest of the residence.” While the home’s thermostat read 95 degrees, the temperature in the bedroom got up to 101 degrees. In addition, a humidifier was turned on in the max position.

After Taylor was taken into custody and seated in the back of a patrol car, she began making utterances, including saying, “It was a necessary sacrifice,” and insisting on being taken to an “insane asylum.”

Neighbors also told police they overheard her say “I killed it” and she claimed to be “the son of Jacob.”

Two days before Taylor’s arrest, neighbors said Taylor was acting strangely. At one point, she sat in the driveway holding her children wrapped in blankets in the middle of the day when it was hot. She had also been seen throwing rocks at vehicles and breaking a truck’s window with a kitchen mixer.

Taylor faces a murder charge along with two counts of felony child abuse.

Her younger daughter was taken by Child Protective Services. Taylor is expected in court on July 15.