An Ohio mom has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder for leaving her 16-month-old daughter home alone in a filthy playpen while she went on a 10-day vacation.
Kristel Candelario, 32, abandoned toddler Jailyn in their Cleveland home in June so she could jet off to Detroit and then Puerto Rico.
When she returned 10 days later, she found her child not breathing in the playpen and called 911, with paramedics pronouncing her dead at the scene.
The abandoned girl’s Pack-N-Play pen “consisted of soiled blankets and a bottom liner, saturated with urine and feces,” an affidavit stated.
An autopsy found that Jailyn had died of starvation and severe dehydration.
Candelario pleaded guilty Thursday to aggravated murder and child endangerment as part of a plea deal dropping two additional murder counts and a felonious assault charge.
“This case is one of those truly unimaginable cases that will stick with me for many years to come,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said after the mom’s guilty plea.
“As prosecutors, it is our job to represent the victims and today we spoke on behalf of 16-month-old Jailyn — who is no longer with us — due to the selfish decisions her mother made,” O’Malley added.
“This conviction today, is the first step towards justice for Jailyn.”
Candelario’s defense attorney, Patrick Milligan, told Cleveland.com that certain “mitigating issues” will be raised at sentencing next month, hinting that the mom suffers unspecified mental health issues.
“Hopefully, people will realize that she is not the monster that some see her as,” he said.
Candelario faces life in prison when she is sentenced on March 18.