A Florida mother was arrested after allegedly leaving her four children home alone for nearly a week while she traveled to Las Vegas for work, with the arrangement only coming to light after her youngest son was struck in the head by a falling dumbbell.
Irene Miller, 50, was taken into custody on Friday shortly after her flight landed back in Florida, with bodycam footage showing officers escorting and handcuffing her as she got off the plane.
Highlights
- Irene Miller allegedly left her four children, aged 9 to 14, home alone overnight while she traveled to Las Vegas.
- Authorities discovered the arrangement after her 9-year-old son was struck in the head by a falling dumbbell.
- Miller was arrested after landing back in Florida while also facing an ongoing divorce and family dispute.
The 9-year-old was taken to a hospital, treated, and later released.
Authorities did not specify the extent of his injuries.
“This will definitely cost her, she might lose her kids,” a reader wrote.
A Florida mother was arrested after leaving her four children home alone
Investigators contacted Miller by phone after arriving at the home.
She told them she had left Florida the previous Sunday for a work trip and was planning to return five days later.
Miller works as a professional photographer and, according to posts on her social media, appeared to be working in Las Vegas with a client connected to the real estate brokerage franchise Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.
Irene told deputies she had arranged for a babysitter to visit the home before and after school while she was away.
The babysitter, however, was not expected to remain with the children overnight.
The children’s father, Mark Miller, was eventually contacted by authorities and took all four children to his home.
The mother was booked into the Orange County Jail on four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
“The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate child neglect,” Sheriff Chris Blackmon said in a statement.
“These cases will be investigated, and charges will be brought against the parents who are not properly supervising or caring for their children.”
The arrest came in the middle of an already complicated family dispute
Court records revealed that Miller’s arrest came just weeks after she filed for divorce from her husband of 15 years.
She filed a petition to end her marriage to Mark Miller, 53, in Osceola County on September 17.
Less than a month earlier, Mark had been charged with criminal battery following an alleged confrontation with Irene outside their children’s school.
According to a police report, he allegedly slapped Irene’s phone out of her hand during a heated discussion.
A restraining order was subsequently issued against him.
The order prevented Mark from coming within 500 feet of Irene and stated that a court hearing would be required to determine whether he could have contact with their four children.
Readers were quick to question the couple’s complicated history.
“The about to be ex is not an option,” one said. “Wasn't there some neighbor or family friend to lend a hand even if the children had to go to separate homes?”
“The about to be ex is not an option,” one said. “Wasn't there some neighbor or family friend to lend a hand even if the children had to go to separate homes?”
Miller was released in less than 24 hours on a $4,000 bond
Miller was booked into the Orange County Jail at 11:29 am on October 23, shortly after detectives met her on the jet bridge at Orlando International Airport.
Booking records show she was held on four separate counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, with a $1,000 bond attached to each count.
The charges were entered under an out-of-county warrant because the case itself is being handled in Osceola County, where the children were found.
Miller was released less than 24 hours later after posting the combined $4,000 bond. Her criminal case is listed under case number 26CF3757.
Authorities have not announced any additional charge stemming from the dumbbell accident itself. The 9-year-old was taken to Celebration Hospital after being struck in the head, but was treated and released the same night.
Miller has not publicly commented on the charges, and an attorney representing her did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"I don't see a problem." Readers debated whether the incident warranted Irene's arrest
