A Florida mother accused of leaving her four children home alone while traveling to Las Vegas for work allegedly refused to return even after police told her that her youngest child had been hospitalized, authorities said.
Irene Miller, 50, was arrested Friday at Orlando International Airport and charged with child neglect. She allegedly left her children—ages 9, 11, 12 and 14—unsupervised at their Kissimmee condominium, according to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Last Wednesday, officers told Miller that her 9-year-old son had been taken to the hospital with a head laceration. His older sister had called 911 to report that a dumbbell had fallen on him, police said.
Miller, a Russian-born photographer, told authorities she would remain in Las Vegas until Friday and “couldn’t come home,” Capt. Kim Montes of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office told the Daily Mail.
Authorities then contacted the children’s father, Mark Miller, 53, who reportedly had not known that his estranged wife had left the children without supervision, Montes said.
The children were “ecstatic” after being placed in their father’s care, Montes added.
Mark Miller was charged with criminal battery against Irene earlier this year.
The dumbbell accident occurred while the four children were building a blanket fort and using the weight to hold it in place, an unidentified family friend told the Daily Mail.
The friend said there was “a lot of blood” and described the scene as “chaotic” for Mark, who has no contact with his wife.
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The couple, who were married for 15 years, have been pursuing a divorce.
They lived together at the Kissimmee condominium until August, when Miller accused her husband of abuse. He denies the allegation, the captain said.
According to a charging affidavit, Mark was taken into custody Aug. 21 after allegedly striking his wife outside their children’s school.
He was arrested, charged and released on a $10,000 bond, court records show.
A judge issued a no-contact order following the alleged assault on Sept. 4. However, the Department of Children and Family Services determined that Mark was safe to care for the children, Montes said.
All four children are now staying with their father in a single-room motel after he became their “unexpected sole caregiver,” Mark wrote in a GoFundMe campaign seeking $5,000 to support them.
The Ukrainian-born father of four said he was “doing everything I can to keep my children safe and together.” He added that he did not believe his estranged wife was “a bad person,” but had instead “made choices she didn’t fully think through.”
Miller remains in the family’s condominium after filing a petition for dissolution of marriage in Osceola County on Sept. 17, court records show.
