Ohio mother who left 16-month-old baby alone in playpen for TEN DAYS so she could go on vacation pleads guilty to murder

An Ohio mother pleaded guilty to aggravated murder after she left her 16-month-old daughter home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer so she could go on vacation. 

Kristel Candelario, 32, now faces a life term and will be sentenced on March 18 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland. 

She also pleaded guilty to child endangerment as part of a plea deal with Cuyahoga County prosecutors, who agreed to dismiss two murder counts and a felony assault charge.

The 32-year-old mother was arrested and charged in the death of her baby daughter, Jailyn, while she reportedly traveled to Detroit and Puerto Rico in June last year. 

'This case is one of those truly unimaginable cases that will stick with me for many years to come,' said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley, announcing the plea on Thursday. 

Kristel Candelario, 32, pleaded guilty to murder after she left her 16-month-old daughter home alone in a playpen for ten days last summer so she could go on vacation

Candelario now faces a life term and will be sentenced on March 18 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland

The 32-year-old mother was arrested and charged in the death of her baby daughter, Jailyn, while she reportedly traveled to Detroit and Puerto Rico in June last year

'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. This conviction today, is the first step towards justice for Jailyn.' 

Prosecutors said Candelario returned to her Cleveland home located at West 97th Street on June 16, 2023, and found her daughter had not been breathing. 

The Cleveland Division of Police and the Cleveland Division of Fire responded to the scene and pronounced Jailyn dead shortly after they arrived. 

'The 16-month-old child was extremely dehydrated at the time of death. The 16-month-old child was discovered in a Pack-N-Play pen on a liner soiled with urine and feces with soiled blankets,' the prosecutor's office added.

An autopsy by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner´s office determined that the toddler had died of starvation and severe dehydration. 

Candelario was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, felonious assaults and endangering children. 

She also pleaded guilty to child endangerment as part of a plea deal with Cuyahoga County prosecutors, who agreed to dismiss two murder counts and a felony assault charge

Prosecutors said Candelario returned to her Cleveland home located at West 97th Street on June 16, 2023, and found her daughter had not been breathing

Candelario's attorneys, Derek Smith and Patrick Milligan, declined to go into details about the plea deal, according to Cleveland.com. 

'This was a real emotional day for our client. She has taken responsibility for what she did, and she is remorseful,' Milligan said. 

'There will be mitigating issues that come up at sentencing that we will address. Hopefully, people will realize that she is not the monster that some see her as.' 

The defense attorneys said Candelario suffered from mental health issues but refused to provide further information. 

It is unclear why Candelario did not ask anyone to help her care for her child while she was traveling with her older daughter.  

DailyMail.com previously reported that this was not the first time Candelario had left her baby daughter home alone, according to a neighbor. 

An acquaintance told News5 Cleveland: 'We keep telling her not to leave her by herself, not just me, my friend across the street too, but she always leave her by herself.'

Another female neighbor, who was not identified, told CNN that Jailyn was 'always a happy baby' and was 'always smiling.' 

Candelario was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, felonious assaults, and endangering children

The neighbor's daughter said there were 'plenty of people' around to have watched the baby, saying: 'She could have knocked on any of our doors and asked us to take care of Jailyn and we would have.' 

'When they told us the state they found her in, I was just heartbroken,' the teenage neighbor told CNN. 

Candelario had previously worked as a building substitute at Citizen Academy Glenville, an elementary school in Cleveland.

She had been in that role since November 2022, but was fired after her arrest. The school issued a statement announcing her termination, WEWS-TV reported.

According to officials with Children and Family Services, there is no record of any previous cases involving Candelario.