An Ohio woman has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after her toddler died when she left her at home to go on a 10-day vacation last summer.
Kristel Candelario, aged 32, pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn. Prosecutors revealed that she abandoned the toddler in a playpen at their Cleveland residence in June while she traveled to Detroit and Puerto Rico.
Upon returning from her trip, Candelario discovered Jailyn unresponsive and contacted the authorities. She proceeded to change her child’s clothes before emergency responders arrived, who sadly pronounced the toddler dead shortly after.
Prosecutors disclosed that at the time of her death, the toddler was severely dehydrated and ultimately succumbed to starvation and dehydration. Medical examiners determined that Jailyn weighed only 13 pounds, a stark contrast to the weight recorded at her previous doctor’s visit two months earlier, as stated by Elizabeth Mooney, the deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner, during the court proceedings.
During the sentencing in County Common Pleas Court, Judge Brendan Sheehan emphasized that Jailyn’s death was not a mere oversight. He admonished Candelario, highlighting that she had multiple opportunities to intervene and save her daughter’s life.
Addressing Candelario directly, Judge Sheehan condemned her actions as the “ultimate act of betrayal,” leaving her baby in a state of terror, neglect, and suffering before facing a gruesome death due to lack of sustenance and care. He further criticized Candelario for displaying a lack of remorse.
Judge Sheehan drew a poignant parallel between Candelario’s life sentence and the confinement and suffering her daughter endured before her tragic passing, noting that at least prison would provide sustenance and liquids denied to Jailyn.
Notably, Candelario has an older daughter, though her whereabouts during her mother’s vacation last June remain undisclosed.
Candelario’s defense attorney, Derek Smith, cited her struggles with depression and mental health issues, though he acknowledged that there was no justification for her actions. He described her behavior as the epitome of “the absolutely worst parenting imaginable” and suggested that the treatment she received for her mental and physical ailments before June 2023 was inadequate.
In her statement to the court, Candelario expressed the profound pain caused by Jailyn’s death and expressed a hope for forgiveness from her parents and daughter. Through a Spanish interpreter, she acknowledged that while she does not seek to justify her actions, her suffering and challenges were not fully understood by others.