A 32-year-old woman in the United States has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of her 16-month-old daughter, who prosecutors say was left home alone for 10 days while her mother was on vacation. According to Fox news, the woman, identified as Kristel Candelario, pleaded guilty last month to one count of aggravated murder and one count of child endangerment. She committed the “ultimate treason” by leaving her daughter Jailyn without food or water last summer so she could go on vacation to Detroit and Puerto Rico, a judge told her Monday.
“Just as you did not release Jailyn from her captivity, you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom,” County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan told the mother. “The only difference will be that the prison will at least feed you and give you fluids that you denied it,” the judge added.
Prosecutors say Candelario left her daughter “alone and unattended” at her Cleveland home in June last year and did not return until 10 days later. “Upon returning, Candelario found Jailyn unresponsive and called the police. The Cleveland Division of Police and the Cleveland Division of Fire responded to the scene and Jailyn was pronounced deceased,” the prosecutor's office said in a statement. Fox news.
Also read | Flight from Melbourne to Bali forced to return after passenger bangs on cockpit door
“An investigation conducted by the CPD Homicide Unit revealed that Candelario left her child alone and unattended on vacation in Detroit, Michigan and Puerto Rico from June 6 to June 16. Jailyn was extremely dehydrated at the time of death,” the office added.
“Jailyn was discovered in a Pack-N-Play booth on a liner soiled with urine and feces with soiled blankets,” the statement said.
The mother, on the other hand, claims to have struggled with depression and other mental health issues. When given the opportunity to speak, she said she has prayed daily for forgiveness. “I am in so much pain over the loss of my baby, Jailyn,” she said in court. “I'm extremely 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,” she said. “God and my daughter have forgiven me,” she claimed.