Authorities said Kristel Candelario, 32, left her daughter, Jailyn, in their Cleveland home when she went on vacation to Detroit and Puerto Rico in June 2023. When she returned 10 days later, she found the girl was not breathing in the playpen and called 911. Emergency responders found the child was “extremely dehydrated” and pronounced her dead shortly after they arrived.
An autopsy by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner’s office determined that the toddler had died of starvation and severe dehydration.
She pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and child endangerment. Candelario now faces a life term when she’s sentenced March 18.
Candelario confessed to leaving her toddler alone while she went on vacation for 10 days, authorities said. The incident report states that by “Candelario’s very own admission,” she revealed that she left Jailyn “at home, all alone and unattended” from June 8 until June 16 “while she was vacationing in Puerto Rico and Detroit, Michigan.”
