An Ohio mother has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to killing her 16-month-old daughter. Prosecutors allege that her daughter was left alone in her home in a playpen for 10 days while her mother was vacationing in Detroit. Puerto Rico.
“May God and my daughter forgive me,” Christel Candelario, 32, said at a sentencing hearing Monday after Jaylin Candelario was found unresponsive inside her Cleveland home in June 2023. “He gave it to me,” he said.
“Just as you did not release Jaylin from confinement, you should spend the rest of your life in solitary confinement with no freedom,” County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan told Candelario. “The only difference is that the prison will at least feed you and give you the liquids you denied her.”
“The idea of going on vacation for 10 days and leaving a child in a pack-n-play to starve to death is the lowest level of parental care ever seen,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said after the verdict. Stated.
Ohio mother Christel Candelario pleads guilty to aggravated murder and child endangerment charges
Christel Candelario pleaded guilty in February to aggravated murder and child endangerment charges. (Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, via Associated Press)
According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, Candelario left Jaylin “alone” at his Cleveland home on June 6 of last year and did not return until 10 days later.
“Mr. Candelario returned and found Jaylynn unresponsive and called police. Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Department responded to the scene, where Jaylynn was pronounced dead,” the statement said.
“An investigation conducted by CPD’s Homicide Unit revealed that Mr. Candelario left the child alone from June 6th to June 16th while he vacationed in Detroit, Michigan, and Puerto Rico. “Jaylin was extremely dehydrated at the time of her death,” the department added. “Jaylin was found in a pack-n-play enclosure with a soiled blanket on a liner soiled with urine and feces.”
Two Ohio women face felonies for allegedly supporting a dead man in their car and driving to a bank to withdraw money.
Prosecutors say Christel Candelario left her 16-month-old daughter alone at home last June while vacationing in the city and Puerto Rico. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Candelario pleaded guilty in February to one count of aggravated murder and one count of child endangerment.
The mother said she suffered from depression and related mental health issues and prayed daily for forgiveness, according to the Associated Press.
Following Christel Candelario’s sentencing, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said, “I am relieved to know that members of our department, especially members of our homicide unit, worked tirelessly to bring justice to Jaylin. ” he said. (Ricky Rose/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“I am so saddened by the loss of my baby Jaylin,” she said. “I’m so hurt by everything that happened. I’m not trying to justify my actions, but no one knew how much I was suffering and what I was going through. God and my daughter are my He forgave me.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
