(StraightNews.org) – An Ohio mom who left her child alone to go on vacation has been sent to prison for life. Kristel Candelario left her 16-month-old infant on her own for over a week, during which the child died from starvation and dehydration. Candelario subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated murder and child endangerment, and in a Cleveland court on March 18, a judge sentenced her to life in jail without the possibility of parole.
June last year when she traveled to Detroit and then on to Puerto Rico for a holiday. When she returned ten days later, she found the infant Jailyn dead in her playpen and called emergency services. Dr. Elizabeth Mooney, the deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner, testified that the child’s death resulted from hunger and thirst, and as such, she ruled the death a homicide.
The young girl weighed just 13 pounds at the time of her death, 7 pounds less than she weighed at her most recent doctor’s visit two months earlier.
While on vacation, Kristel Candelario posted images to social media, including one showing her on a beach with a drink under the caption, “The time that is enjoyed is the true time lived.”
Noting that Candelario left her baby in a playpen, from which she had no means of escape, Judge Brendan Sheehan told the convicted killer that she would experience the same entrapment as her daughter, the only difference being that she would receive the food and water she denied to her child.
In response, Candelario, who her attorneys say has a long history of mental illness, said she would not attempt to justify her actions, but “nobody knew the suffering” she had endured. She added that she was extremely hurt by the baby’s death. Before leaving the court to start her life sentence, Candelario said, “God and my daughter have forgiven me.”
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