The 31-year-old Ohio mother is charged with murder after “leaving her 16-month-old daughter home alone for 10 days to go on vacation and returning to find her dead in her playpen.”
- Kristel Candelario, 31, was arrested and charged in the June 18 death of her baby daughter Jailyn
- Candelario, who traveled to Detroit and Puerto Rico, admitted to investigators that she left her baby “at home all alone and unattended.”
- She is being held on $1 million bail
An Ohio woman has been charged with the murder of her 16-month-old daughter after she left the toddler at home alone for 10 days to go on vacation and returned to find the child had died.
Kristel Candelario, 31, was arrested and charged in the death of her baby daughter Jailyn on June 18 while she was reportedly traveling to Detroit and Puerto Rico, according to the affidavit, NBC News reported.
When Kristel returned to her Cleveland home on West 97th Street on June 16, she found her daughter had not responded.
Speaking to an interpreter, Candelario admitted to investigators that she left her baby “at home, all alone and unattended,” noting that her daughter was reportedly “extremely dehydrated,” the affidavit said .
According to an affidavit, authorities claimed her daughter’s playpen was filled with “soiled blankets and a pad saturated with urine and feces.”
Kristel Candelario, 31, of Cleveland, Ohio, has been arrested and charged in the death of her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn Candelario, after leaving her child alone in her home for 10 days
Jailyn Candelario reportedly stayed alone for more than a week and died while her mother was traveling to Detroit and Puerto Rico, the affidavit said
When emergency services arrived at the scene, they pronounced the child dead.
It’s unclear why Candelario hasn’t asked anyone to help her look after her child when she travels.
Officials said Thursday that Candelario never made arrangements for her baby daughter before she left.
The Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office said there was “no evidence of trauma” but found the child was left alone for about 10 days and subsequently died, a police statement said.
Neighbors were distraught when they heard the news. Many said they had taken care of the toddler before and wished Candelario had reached out to them for help, People reported.
A 13-year-old who knew the child said she was “wonderful and really adorable”.
“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her,” they said. ‘I miss her a lot.’
The home in Cleveland, Ohio on West 97th Street where baby Jailyn was left unattended for ten days
Candelario pictured with an officer during the indictment
The police report detailing Candelario’s crimes
Candelario previously worked as a building contractor at Citizen Academy Glenville, an elementary school in Cleveland.
She had served in that capacity since November 2022 but was fired after her arrest. The school issued a statement announcing its termination, WEWS-TV reported.
She is currently being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on $1 million bail. It is not immediately known if she has hired an attorney or if she has filed a lawsuit.
Her next scheduled hearing is June 28 at 8:30 am.