What did Kristel Candelario do? Ohio mom charged as 16-month-old left alone for over a week found dead

Kristel Candelario, a 31-year-old resident of Cleveland, Ohio, has been arrested for the murder of her 16-months-old daughter, Jailyn. As per the municipal records of Cleveland, it is reported that Candelario went on a vacation to Detroit and Puerto Rico from June 8, 2023 to June 16, 2023. She left her daughter at home, entirely unattended for this duration of time.

Candelario’s daughter was found severely dehydrated and unresponsive at her residence in the 3100 block of West 97th Street in the Cudell neighborhood. Upon being found, she was taken to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner, where she was pronounced dead on June 16, 2023. Candelario has been arrested and detained in the Cuyahoga County Jail on murder charges. Her bond has been set at $1 million.

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Kristel Candelario’s neighbors were hearbroken to hear of Jailyn’s untimely demise

WOIO, an affiliate of CBS, spoke to Kristel Candelario’s neighbors regarding the incident. These neighbors reported that the accused was not the primary caregiver of her daughter; instead, the victim’s grandmother was responsible for her. As per Suleym Gonzalez, Candelario’s neighbor:

“Her mom [Kristel Candelario] always wanted to go out and just left her with her grandma and all that.”

A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said that they could not believe that Jailyn was gone. They noted:

"Jailyn, she was a happy baby, always smiling, always curious about stuff. She was a wonderful, wonderful baby."

Other neighbors reported that leaving Jailyn alone at home was not unprecedented. They said that they would have been happy to care for Jailyn while Candelario was on vacation. A 13-year-old neighbor of Candelario's bemoaned her death, saying:

“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was amazing and really adorable, and I miss her a lot.”

Jialyn lived with her mother and her grandparents. Jailyn’s older sister was on vacation with her grandparents, and she was left unattended by her mother, which ultimately led to her demise. As per the medical examiner, there were no signs of trauma and died because she had been left unattended for an extended period of time.

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Kristel Candelario has been dismissed from her job

As per News 5, Kristel Candelario was employed at Citizens Academy, Glenville as a building substitute since the fall of 2020. Previously, she had worked as an instructional aide at the Hope Academy, Northcoast. Jayah J. Watters-Clark, the managing director of communications of Candelario’s employer, noted:

“Based on recent reports regarding charges brought against Kristel Candelario, a building substitute at Citizens Academy Glenville, since November of 2022, we have terminated her employment effective immediately…We are conducting an internal review to determine if there were any complaints of improper conduct during her tenure at Breakthrough Public Schools.”

She went on to add that it is their top priority to provide learning environments that are safe for their scholars and the community. She noted that the organization grieves Jailyn's death, along with the rest of Cleveland.

Candelario’s pre-trial hearing has been set for June 28, 2023. In such cases, a grand jury is convened, which is expected in Candelario’s trial as well.