Mother arrested for leaving son alone in filthy home for 12 days
A Carson City woman was arrested Friday afternoon after deputies found her high-school-aged son had been left alone for 12 days in a home filled with trash and pet waste, but little food.
Kelly Pray, 34, was arrested for gross misdemeanor child neglect.
Deputies were alerted by school officials who were suspicious of the boy being absent from class. What they found at the home in the 3000 block of Sunrise Drive left them fighting for air to keep from vomiting.
The arrest report describes a stomach-churning scene, a home with no running hot water or refrigerator, filled with trash, dirt, dog and cat feces, dead insects and mouse droppings, with black mold covering surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom.
A neighbor claimed the woman would often leave her son alone for days at a time to stay with her boyfriend in Reno. Inside the home with the boy was a pit bull, a collie-type dog and two cats. The neighbor said the boy had run out of food several days before, and that she had gone to the Ron Wood Family Resource Center to pick up canned food for him to eat.
When Child Protective Services talked with the boy, he said he had been eating from a large round cake the last few days. CPS took the boy into protective custody.
At times, the neighbor said the home had been without electricity or running water. The cell phone the boy had was not operational since its minutes were used up. The neighbor said that there were times that the boy needed a phone for emergencies, and that at one point someone who was angry with his mother had come by and thrown bricks through the windows.
Animal Control was called to take possession of the dogs and cats.
Pray's bail was set at $2,500.
Update: F.T. Norton adds some details about the boy. According to her story, he is 14 year old and has a learning disability.
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