An Ohio woman whose toddler died after she left her alone for more than a week while she went on vacation was sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor said.
Kristel Candelario, 32, pleaded guilty in February to aggravated murder and endangering children in connection with the death of her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn, last year.
Candelario left for vacation June 6 and left Jailyn alone. She visited Detroit and Puerto Rico, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said.
When she returned on June 16, she found Jailyn dead and called police, authorities said.
Jailyn died of starvation and severe dehydration due to pediatric neglect, Dr. Elizabeth Mooney, deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner, said in court Monday. The manner was ruled homicide.
The child was extremely dehydrated and was emaciated, weighing 13 pounds, which was a decrease of 7 pounds from her last doctor’s visit less than two months prior, Mooney said.
Mooney, who conducted the autopsy, called Jailyn’s death “one of the most tragic and unfortunate cases I’ve had in my career thus far.” She said the child could have suffered for possibly a week.
In a statement Monday, prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley called Jailyn “a beautiful baby girl who was taken from this world due to her mother’s unimaginable selfishness.”
Candelario told the court Monday that “every day I ask forgiveness from God and from my daughter Jailyn.”
She also asked forgiveness from her other daughter and from her parents.
Candelario’s attorney, Derek Smith, said that no one was trying to excuse her behavior but that Candelario was struggling emotionally and was overwhelmed as a single mother of two children.
Candelario had tried to harm herself earlier in 2023, she had been placed on antidepressants and stopped taking them without tapering down in dosage as required, which can cause side effects, Smith told the court. Candelario was “not thinking clearly,” he said.
“I am not trying to…
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