By: Drew Scofield
CLEVELAND (Scripps News Cleveland) — A 31-year-old Cleveland mother has been charged for the death of her 16-month-old daughter she allegedly left alone for eight days while she vacationed in Puerto Rico and Detroit, Michigan.
Kristel Candelario is accused of leaving her 16-month-old home alone while she went on vacation. (WEWS)
According to Cleveland Municipal Court records, the mother, Kristel A. Candelario, 31, is charged with murder, a first-degree felony.
Authorities responded to the 3100 block of West 97th Street on June 16 after Candelario found her child unresponsive. She told police that she had left the 16-month-old at home alone while she went on vacation from June 8 to 16, court records state.
Police said the child’s Pack N Play “consisted of soiled blankets and a bottom liner saturated with urine and feces,” according to court records.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office hasn’t said what the child’s official cause of death is, but court records state she was “extremely dehydrated.”
The mother is currently being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
This story was originally published on June 20, 2023, by WEWS in Cleveland, an E.W. Scripps Company.
