"John" PRAY - 14 yo - Carson City NV

A Carson City mother remained in custody Monday after deputies discovered Friday that her 14-year-old son had been home alone without food in a filthy house for more than a week.


Kelly Pray, 34, was booked into the Carson City Jail at 12:57 p.m. Friday on suspicion of gross misdemeanor child neglect. According to the arrest report, deputies went to Pray's Sunrise Drive home on Thursday after school officials reported her 14-year-old learning-disabled son had not been at school the previous week.

When officers contacted the juvenile, they found him alone. Initially, the tearful boy said his mother had just left the house, but later said his mom had been gone overnight, the report states.

The report states the house was uninhabitable. Animal feces and garbage littered all rooms, with the juvenile staying in a small back room where “garbage had been partitioned off to create small (compartments),” the report states.

The boy told deputies he could not use the main portion of the home because of black mold and the conditions found inside supported that, according to the report states.

Officers found no food in the home and the boy said he'd been eating a birthday cake for three days.

“The stench in the house was so bad at times … I almost vomited,” wrote Deputy Jessica Rivera in her report.

Of the two refrigerators on the property, one contained only condiments with expired freshness dates and the other “smelled like a decomposed body. There was black liquid inside, bugs and what looked liked bug eggs.”

A neighbor reported Pray often left the boy home alone, sometimes 10 days in a row, while she went to Reno to stay with her boyfriend. On a few occasions, Pray allegedly called the neighbor about her son to ask the neighbor if she'd “hook him up with some dinner.” The woman obliged.

Three hours after the boy was turned over to state officials, Pray arrived at the Sheriff's Office for an interview.

According to the report, she claimed she would clean the home once a week, and she blamed her son for any damage or garbage there.

Pray's bail was set at $10,000. She'll be in court on Oct. 18.