A mum is facing murder charges after her 16-month-old daughter died after being allegedly left home alone for 10 days while her mum went on holiday.
31-year-old Kristel Candelario of Cleveland, Ohio, was arrested on June 18 and charged with murder, according to online court records.
She had found her daughter, Jailyn, unresponsive at their home on June 16. She allegedly told investigators she had left her daughter “at home, all alone and unattended”, while she travelled to Michigan and Puerto Rico, according to the affidavit.
When she got back, she allegedly found her daughter “extremely dehydrated”. Authorities said Jailyn’s playpen was filled with “soiled blankets and a bottom liner, saturated with urine and faces”.
Emergency services pronounced the girl dead at the scene and said “no signs of trauma were observed”, according to a press release from the Cleveland Police Department.
An investigation carried out by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office showed that “the child had been left alone and unattended for approximately 10 days and had subsequently died”.
Neighbours spoke to local press WKYC, saying they had previously taken care of the girl, and wished Candelario had asked them to watch her instead of allegedly leaving her home alone.
One neighbour said: “We keep telling her not to leave her by herself, not just me, my friend across the street too, but she always leaves her by herself.”
Another neighbour said Candelario first left Jailyn with her and her 13-year-old daughter in August 2022, initially for a weekend. But, she said, Candelario went weeks without answering the phone, giving a series of excuses as to why she hadn’t picked up her daughter.
“I was the one calling her saying, ‘Look I need milk. I need money. I don’t have money to buy milk for your baby.’ What am I supposed to do?” the neighbour said.
They claimed Candelario picked up Jailyn after about six weeks of being looked after by the neighbour.
Candelario had reportedly worked at Citizens Academy Glenville, an elementary school, since November 2022. After her arrest, the school released a statement saying that she had been terminated from her position as a building substitute.
Kristel Candelario is being held in Cuyahoga County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to court records. She is reportedly being represented by a public defender and is due to appear in court again on June 28.