When Kristel Candelario, a 31-year-old mother from Cleveland, went on a 10-day vacation to Michigan and Puerto Rico, she went alone, leaving her 16-month-old toddler home and uncared for.
On June 16, Candelario found her daughter, Jailyn, unresponsive and “extremely dehydrated,” at their home on West 97th Street, Cleveland, according to police. Candelario was arrested on June 18 and charged with murder, online court records state.
Authorities alleged that Jailyn’s playpen was filled with “soiled blankets and a bottom liner, saturated with urine and feces,” according to the affidavit.
Emergency responders pronounced the girl dead at the scene and said that “no signs of trauma were observed,” according to a press release from the Cleveland Police Department.
An investigation by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that “the child had been left alone and unattended for approximately 10 days and had subsequently died,” the press release alleges.
Following the news of the death, neighbors who spoke with WKYC said they had previously taken care of the girl and wished Candelario had asked them to watch her instead of allegedly leaving her home alone.
“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was amazing and really adorable and I miss her a lot,” a 13-year-old neighbor told the outlet.
According to WEWS-TV, Candelario had worked at Citizens Academy Glenville, an elementary school in Cleveland, since November 2022. In light of her arrest, the school released a statement to the outlet announcing that Candelario had been terminated from her position as a building substitute.
Candelario is being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $1 million bond, online court records show. It wasn’t immediately clear if Candelario had entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on her behalf.
