A Kissimmee photographer’s work trip to Las Vegas left her four children unsupervised overnight for days, authorities say, until a 911 call over a head injury brought deputies to the door.
Irene Miller, 50, faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm after Osceola County deputies found her kids ages 9, 11, 12 and 14 home alone on the evening of Oct. 21. She had left for Las Vegas on Oct. 18 for a roughly five-day work assignment and planned to return Oct. 23.
According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, Miller arranged for a Tampa-area babysitter to stop by mornings around 8 a.m. to help the children get ready for school and again after school, leaving around 4 p.m. Overnight supervision was not part of the arrangement. That left the children without an adult present for long stretches outside school hours.
The situation surfaced when the 11- and 12-year-olds called 911 around 8:30 p.m. Oct. 21. A five-pound dumbbell had fallen on the 9-year-old boy’s head while he was building a fort with sheets and blankets. The boy was taken to Celebration Hospital, treated for a forehead laceration that was glued, and released. The 14-year-old was outside on his bike at the time. Deputies found no adults in the home.
Court documents cited by the New York Post state the children told officers they had been sustaining themselves for about four days mainly on instant ramen, bagels and cereal. On the day of the call, they had eaten bagels, cereal “and a large number of Oreos.” Capt. Kim Montes noted the home and kids appeared clean but “there wasn’t a lot of food there…for four children.”
The affidavit also alleges some of the children were sick and that Miller instructed them to use expired medication. An Albuterol machine, expired in September 2025 and not prescribed to the 11-year-old daughter, was reportedly used by her for a cough and for one of her brothers’ throat issues.
“Irene instructed her children to consume expired medication and instructed her daughter to consume medication which was not prescribed to her,”
Officers wrote.
When deputies reached Miller by phone in Las Vegas, she said she was busy working and had difficulty speaking. She later called the 14-year-old (on speaker with officers present) and scolded the children for calling 911, saying words to the effect of
“Do you know what you have done?” and “I’m going to go to jail,”
According to the affidavit.
Detectives met Miller as she deboarded her flight at Orlando International Airport on Oct. 23 and arrested her. Body-camera video of the arrest was released by the sheriff’s office. She was booked into Orange County Jail and posted a $4,000 surety bond the next day. The children were placed with their father. Sheriff Chris Blackmon said the office
“will not tolerate child neglect.”
