Ohio mom Kristel Candelario who left toddler home alone for 10 days to go on vacation sentenced to life on murder charges

A woman from Cleveland, Ohio, Kristel Candelario, who left her 16-month-old toddler at home while she went on a vacation, was sentenced to life without parole on Monday, March 18, 2024. The 32-year-old mother pleaded guilty in February to one count of aggravated murder and one count of endangering children.

Per a June 2023 statement by prosecutors, Kristel left her daughter, Jailyn Candelario, "alone and attended" in her playpen for 10 days while she traveled to Detroit and Puerto Rico. Finding her daughter unresponsive upon her return, she called 911.

However, investigators raised questions when they found Jailyn was "extremely dehydrated at the time of her death." The toddler was found "in a Pack-N-Play pen on a liner soiled with urine and feces with soiled blankets."

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Judge Brendan J. Sheehan who handed Kristel Candelario the sentence called the crime an "ultimate act of betrayal"

Assistant Prosecutor Anna Faraglia presented the court with a PowerPoint presentation with photos of Kristel Candelario smiling and partying with friends in Puerto Rico. She also played a recording from the Ring doorbell camera of Jailyn screaming for more than two days.

Candelario lied to the cops about her vacation, with evidence later showing she redressed her daughter before calling 911.

Following an emotional hearing, Judge Brendan J. Sheehan of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court handed out Kristel Candelario's sentence.

"Just as you didn’t let Jailyn out of her confinement until she died, so too you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference will be that prison will at least feed you and give you liquids that you denied her," Judge Sheehan said.

As he handed out the sentence, Sheehan called Candelario's act "the ultimate act of betrayal." Per court records, prosecutors initially slammed Kristel with two counts of murder and a felonious assault charge, which were dismissed after she signed a plea deal with Cuyahoga County prosecutors.

According to NBC News, Dr. Elizabeth Mooney, the deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner, revealed that Jailyn died of starvation and severe dehydration from pediatric neglect. The 16-month-old weighed 13 pounds at the time, making it 7 pounds less than what she weighed during her last doctor's appointment, two months before.

Defense attorney Derek Smith told the court that Kristel Candelario suffered from depression and mental health issues, adding that the mother tried to kill herself from an antidepressant overdose in 2023. Kristel allegedly stopped taking her medication when she left Jailyn for her vacation.

"I’m extremely hurt about everything that happened. I am not trying to justify my actions, but nobody knew how much I was suffering and what I was going through. God and my daughter have forgiven me," Kristel told the court.

Per WEWS-TV, Kristel Candelario worked as a building substitute at Cleveland Elementary School Citizens Academy Glenville since her arrest last year. Her employment was terminated following her hearing.