Cleveland mother charged with murder for leaving 16-month-old baby alone for 10 days

A baby girl died after she was left home alone in Cleveland for 10 days while her mother Kristel Candelario traveled, police said.

Candelario, 31, was arrested over the weekend and charged with murder after her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn, was found unresponsive at their home on W. 97th St., according to a Thursday press release from the Cleveland Police Department.

There were “no signs of trauma,” and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office’s determined “the child had been left alone and unattended for approximately 10 days and had subsequently died,” police said. During that time, Candelario was vacationing in Puerto Rico and Detroit despite not having a babysitter.

Neighbors told the station that Candelario had asked them to take care of Jailyn in the past but noted it was not the first time she’s left her daughter alone.

The neighbors, Suleym and her mother Iris did not want to provide their last names but said they first met Jailyn in August 2022 when Candelario asked if they would watch her for the weekend. After dozens of missed calls, her mother returned a month and a half later.

“I was the one calling her saying, ‘Look I need milk. I need money. I don’t have money to buy milk for your baby.’” Iris told WKYC. “What am I supposed to do?”

She added that the little girl at one point started calling her “mama.”

“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her,” Iris said. “She was amazing and really adorable and I miss her a lot.”