Mom gets life without parole in death of young daughter who she left alone while she went on vacation

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - A mother was sentenced to life without parole in the death of her 16-month-old daughter whom she left for 10 days while she went on vacation.

On Monday, Kristel Candelario, 32, who pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and endangering children for the death of her daughter Jailyn, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“As a court, I have to remember Jailyn, where you did not,” Judge Brendan Sheehan said as he delivered the sentence. “Just as how you didn’t let Jailyn out of her confinement until she died, so too, you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference will be that prison will at least feed you and give you liquids that you denied her.”

Candelario left Jailyn inside their home on June 6, 2023, while she went to Detroit and Puerto Rico, according to authorities. She found Jailyn unresponsive when she arrived back home on June 16, 2023, and called 911.

The state presented evidence during the hearing that Candelario had re-dressed Jailyn before calling 911, among other pieces of evidence.

“Today, we remember Jailyn, a beautiful baby girl who was taken from this world due to her mother’s unimaginable selfishness,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. “The thought of going on vacation for 10 days and leaving your child to starve to death in her Pack-N-Play is a new low in parental care.”

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