Ohio mom sentenced to life for vacationing while child left alone

Kristel Candelario is a 32-year-old mother who pleaded guilty last month to the aggravated murder of her 16-month-old daughter. The girl named Jailyn left home and died in her playpen for 10 days last summer as Candelario went on vacation.

Candelario lived with her daughter Jailyn in Cleveland, Ohio. Last June, she decided to go on a vacation trip to Detroit and Puerto Rico and left the child without food and water for ten days.

When Candelario returned home, she found her daughter not breathing and immediately called 911. After arriving, the paramedics found Jailyn dehydrated. Cuyahoga County medical examiner stated the cause of her death was starvation and severe dehydration.

Due to this horrible death of the innocent child, Kristel Candelario was sentenced on Monday by County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan to life in prison with no chance of parole.

"Just as you didn't let Jailyn out of her confinement, so too you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom. The only difference will be, the prison will at least feed you and give you liquid that you denied her," Sheehan said, quoted by CBS News.

Candelario's attorney, Derek Smith, highlighted that his client had mental health issues and depression.

Sources: CBS News, Washington Post