When one becomes a parent, they have to be prepared to sacrifice many things in order to care for their child.
Sadly, a mother in the United States (US) failed to do this when she abandoned her 16-month-old toddler to go on a 10-day vacation.
Source: WKYC
Finding the baby unresponsive upon her return, she called 911 for assistance.
A court has now charged her with aggravated murder. She is also facing two additional counts of murder, felonious assault, and endangering children.
CBS News reported that 31-year-old Kristel Candelario left her daughter alone at her home in Cleveland, Ohio on 6 June.
During her 10-day holiday, she visited locations such as Detroit, Michigan and Puerto Rico.
When she came home, she found her daughter unresponsive and called 911.
Source: WKYC
Court documents seen by WKYC show that Candelario admitted to leaving her daughter Jailyn “at home, all alone and unattended”.
Preliminary investigations found that Jailyn was “extremely dehydrated”.
Authorities also noted that the toddler’s playpen was full of “soiled blankets” and a “bottom liner, saturated with urine and [faeces]”.
Emergency personnel pronounced the girl dead after arriving on the scene.
The reasons for Candelario not making arrangements to look after her child are still unclear, with officials stating she never did so before her vacation.
According to NBC News, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Jailyn’s body contained “no signs of trauma”.
However, they added that it was clear that the child was alone for 10 days prior to passing away.
Neighbours expressed their sorrow upon hearing of her death, with many of them having babysat her before.
They said that they wished Candelario had approached them for help.
One neighbour shared that the toddler was “a happy baby, always smiling, always curious about stuff”.
“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her,” she said. “She was amazing and really adorable and I miss her a lot.”
Another neighbour told News 5 Cleveland that this purportedly wasn’t the first time the toddler had been abandoned.
“We keep telling her not to leave her by herself, not just me, my friend across the street too, but she always [leaves] her by herself,” they said.
Following her arrest on 16 June, the elementary school where Candelario worked as a building substitute terminated her employment.
She has been indicted on an aggravated murder charge and two counts of murder. Additionally, she faces charges of felonious assault and endangering children.
With her bond set at US$1 million (S$1.3 million), her next hearing will be on Wednesday (28 June).
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Featured image adapted from WKYC.
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