According to authorities, a Las Vegas woman killed her 5-year-old daughter and told detectives “it was a necessary sacrifice.”
After her daughter’s body was discovered in her scortching hot bedroom in the family’s home on June 28, Kemaya Taylor, 23, was accused of murder and child abuse. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the victim’s 2-year-old sister was discovered alive inside a locked bedroom.
When an acquaintance reported that Taylor made a “vague suicidal threat,” police went to the house 12 days earlier for a welfare check. According to an arrest record, she informed police she wanted to quit her job and “watch out on the news.”
A neighbor called the police when she couldn’t locate the family and noticed that the front door was open. Taylor, who appeared to be suffering from mental illness, approached the police outside and informed them that her children were upstairs.
The 5-year-old child, whose identity had not been revealed, was soon discovered dead in the “very warm” home, which had no air conditioning. The temperature inside was 95 degrees, according to authorities.
The report revealed that the girls’ room temperature was “exponentially warmer,” reaching 101 degrees. A humidifier was also set to its highest setting.
Taylor was apprehended before making unprompted remarks to investigators.
“An officer reported Taylor making spontaneous utterances such as ‘it was a necessary sacrifice,’” police wrote in the report. “Witnesses in the neighborhood also overheard Taylor say ‘I killed it’ and claimed to be the ‘son of Jacob.’”
Taylor was spotted around the area with a bat and a blender, according to a resident. She was also accused of causing damage to other vehicles before police arrived.
Police said Taylor refused to speak to investigators and demanded to be transferred to an “insane asylum.”
The Review-Journal reported that she was still being held at the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday, and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 15.
