The mother of a 16-month-old baby, who died after being left alone for eight days in a home in Cleveland, Ohio, while she was on vacation on an island, was sentenced to life in prison, authorities reported Monday.
Kristel Candelario, 31, pleaded guilty last February to charges related to the death of her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn, last year.
The woman admitted that she left her daughter alone and without care inside the house from June 8 to 16, 2023, a period during which she was allegedly on vacation in Puerto Rico and Detroit, Michigan. According to court documents, Candelario told her to Cuyahoga County Police that he had left the girl alone while he went on a trip.
Police found the girl "wrapped in dirty blankets" with feces and urine.
Jailyn died of starvation and severe dehydration due to neglect, Cuyahoga County Coroner Elizabeth Mooney said at the sentencing hearing Monday, according to information cited by NBC.
The girl weighed 13 pounds (less than six kilos), which represents a decrease of 7 pounds since her last visit to the doctor less than two months before her death, the coroner added.
Cuyahoga prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley said Jailyn was "a beautiful girl who was taken from this world because of her mother's unimaginable selfishness."
For his part, Candelario said in court “every day I ask for forgiveness from God and my daughter Jailyn,” according to the television network.
The woman was sentenced to life in prison without the right to parole.
