An Ohio mother who put her 16-month-old daughter in a playpen and left her home alone for 10 days while on vacation last summer pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated murder.
Christel Candelario, 32, also pleaded guilty to child endangerment as part of a plea deal with Cuyahoga County prosecutors, and prosecutors agreed to dismiss two counts of murder and a felony assault charge. Candelario will be sentenced on March 18 and faces a life sentence.
This booking photo provided by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office shows Christel Candelario, 31, of Cleveland, Ohio. Candelario pleaded guilty on Thursday, February 22, 2024, to aggravated murder and child endangerment charges in the death of her 16-month-old daughter, who was left alone for 10 days while she was on vacation. (Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Associated Press, File)
Ohio mother charged with murder after allegedly leaving infant child alone at home for more than a week
Authorities say Candelario left his daughter, Jaylin, at his home in Cleveland when he went on vacation to Detroit and Puerto Rico in June 2023. When she returned 10 days later, she found her daughter not breathing in the playpen, so she called 911. Paramedics found the child to be “severely dehydrated” and pronounced him dead on arrival.
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An autopsy conducted by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the infant died of starvation and severe dehydration.
