The sad story of a mother who left her baby home for a 10 day vacation

This is the account of an Ohio lady who was given a life sentence without the chance of parole earlier this month by a US court.

The 32-year-old Kristel Candelario entered a guilty plea to the aggravated murder of her 16-month-old daughter Jailyn. The toddler was left alone in a playpen at their Cleveland home in June of last year, according to the prosecution, while she took a trip to Detroit and Puerto Rico.

According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, she discovered Jailyn lifeless when she returned from her trip and phoned the authorities, as stated in a Washing Post report. 

Before help could arrive, she dressed her kid, and a little while after, she was declared dead.

Prosecutors said that the infant was "extremely dehydrated" at the time of her death, and medical examiners found that malnutrition and dehydration were the cause of death. Elizabeth Mooney, the deputy Cuyahoga County medical examiner, informed the court on Monday that she weighed 13 pounds, which was around seven pounds less than what had been documented at her last doctor's appointment, which was roughly two months ago.

Judge Brendan Sheehan of the County Common Pleas Court informed Candelario that her daughter's death "wasn't simply an oversight" and that she had multiple chances to step in and save her life.

“You committed the ultimate act of betrayal, leaving your baby terrified, alone, unprotected, to suffer what I’ve heard was the most gruesome death imaginable, with no food, no water, no protection,” he said. He also accused Candelario of having showed “no remorse.”

He likened Candelario's life sentence in court to the imprisonment her daughter had to endure prior to her passing.

"The prison will provide you with food and liquids that you denied her, that's the only difference," he remarked.

Candelario has a daughter who is older as well. Where she was during her mother's June vacation is unknown.

A request for comment from her lawyer, Derek Smith, was not immediately answered. Despite being found able to stand trial, he stated at Candelario's sentencing that she had struggled with mental health concerns and depression.

“There’s no justification for her actions,” Smith said, calling it the “absolutely worst parenting imaginable.” He insinuated that treatment she received for mental and physical problems before June had been insufficient.