A mother has been charged with murder after her five-year-old daughter died in a warm bedroom.

Police were called to a Las Vegas home and found two girls locked in a room without air conditioning on Monday as temperatures rose above 40 ° C.

The eldest daughter did not respond and was later pronounced dead. Officers believe the heat was the cause of the girl’s death.

Kemaya Taylor, 23, was arrested after the incident. She was charged Thursday with murder and two counts of child abuse in Las Vegas court. She did not appear at the hearing because she refused to leave her prison cell, according to the Las Vegas Review.

The inmate’s records show that her preliminary hearing is now set for July 15.

In court, Clark County District Attorney Steven Rose said the air conditioning was not on in the family home, but had no information as to whether it was turned off or unplugged. It was also not confirmed whether the death was caused by heat exhaustion.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office is investigating both cause and manner of death.

Ms Taylor’s owner, who asked not to be named, told the Las Vegas Review that the suspect was in financial trouble and was struggling without her family nearby.

The owner said: “[The neighbors] saw her in front, all her clothes out in the aisle.

“She had one of her babies in her arms in this heat with blankets covering her baby… in a fetal position… She got up and started smashing car windows around here.”

The children’s grandmother, Marisa Brown, told the Las Vegas Review that her son was very involved in the education of the children and that Mrs. Taylor had “all the help she needed”.

Ms Taylor’s youngest child, a two-year-old girl, has been turned over to social services.

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