By Elizabeth Mner | Law and Crime | October 7, 2025
⚠️ Content Warning: This article contains disturbing details regarding child neglect and death.
An Ohio mother has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after abandoning her 16-month-old daughter at home alone for more than a week while she went on vacation to Detroit and Puerto Rico. When she returned, she found her baby dead from starvation and severe dehydration, in what prosecutors called one of the most horrific cases they had ever seen.
🌴 A Vacation That Turned into a Tragedy
According to court documents, 32-year-old Crystal Candelario left her Cleveland home on June 6, 2023, embarking on a trip that took her first to Detroit, Michigan, and then to Puerto Rico. During this time, she left her toddler daughter, Jaylen, alone in a pack-and-play crib without food, water, or care.
Neighbors’ Ring doorbell cameras captured her leaving the residence, and in the days that followed, they also recorded the faint sounds of Jaylen crying inside the home. Ten days later, on June 16, Candelario returned to discover her daughter unresponsive in the same playpen where she had left her.
Jaylen’s body was emaciated, weighing less than 14 pounds (6.3 kg) — over seven pounds less than at her previous doctor’s visit two months earlier. The playpen was found in filthy condition, with soiled bedding and evidence that the toddler had tried to eat her own feces in a desperate attempt to survive.
First responders pronounced Jaylen dead at the scene. The medical examiner later ruled the cause of death as starvation and extreme dehydration due to prolonged neglect.
🕵️♀️ Timeline of Neglect Captured on Camera
Prosecutors presented evidence showing Candelario’s timeline. Ring camera footage, along with 648 hours of reviewed video, proved she initially left the home on June 4, two days earlier than she originally admitted. After spending time in Detroit, she flew to Puerto Rico on June 8, returning on June 11 — then leaving again for Detroit the next day.
While she was partying abroad, Ring camera audio picked up the sound of Jaylen crying alone inside the house. Prosecutors emphasized that Candelario could have asked for help at any time — from neighbors, relatives, or social services — but instead chose to prioritize her own pleasure over her child’s survival.
The prosecution also recovered photos from Candelario’s phone taken during her Puerto Rico vacation. In these pictures, she is smiling on the beach, surrounded by friends, showing no signs of distress or concern. Prosecutor Michael O’Malley stated during sentencing:
“These images show someone exercising sound judgment about her own enjoyment, not someone struggling to keep a child alive. Meanwhile, back home, Jaylen was starving, crying, and dying alone.”
🧠 Defense Cites Mental Health Struggles
During the trial in February 2024, Candelario pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and child endangerment. Her defense attorney, Derek Smith, acknowledged the severity of her actions but argued that she was struggling with severe depression, anxiety, and the effects of abruptly stopping psychiatric medications earlier that year.
In early 2023, Candelario had been hospitalized for neurological symptoms that were later attributed to stress and anxiety. Doctors prescribed a combination of mood stabilizers and antidepressants, but she stopped taking them abruptly, which her attorney argued led to impaired judgment.
Smith told the court:
“Nothing we say is a justification. Her actions were narcissistic, selfish, abhorrent — the worst parenting imaginable. But in her mind, when she was ‘okay,’ she believed Jaylen was okay too. Of course, that was tragically false.”
⚖️ The Court’s Condemnation
During sentencing, the judge did not mince words. Addressing Candelario directly, the judge said:
“You committed the ultimate act of betrayal. You left your baby terrified, alone, unprotected, to suffer what I heard was the most gruesome death imaginable. At any point, you could have called someone for help. Instead, I see photos of you on a beach while your child was eating her own feces in an attempt to survive.”
“The difference between Jaylen’s fate and yours,” the judge continued, “is that in prison, at least, you will be fed and given water — something you denied your daughter.”
The judge sentenced Crystal Candelario to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, stating it was one of the most difficult cases he had ever presided over.
👼 A Baby’s Voice Through Others
Jaylen could not speak for herself in court, but investigators and prosecutors became her voice. Sergeant Teresa Gomez of the Cleveland Homicide Unit became emotional as she addressed the court:
“This tragedy should never have happened. This innocent baby loved her mother. She needed her mother. And her mother abandoned her for days that turned into weeks.”
Family members of Candelario spoke through interpreters, expressing deep regret for not recognizing the signs of her mental deterioration earlier. They apologized to Jaylen and vowed that her memory would live on within the family.
Candelario, speaking through tears, asked for forgiveness:
“I am not trying to justify my actions. Nobody knew how much I was suffering inside. Every day I ask God and my daughter for forgiveness.”
📝 Case Summary
- Defendant: Crystal Candelario (32)
- Victim: Jaylen (16 months)
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
- Incident Date: June 6–16, 2023
- Conviction: Aggravated murder & child endangerment
- Sentence: Life imprisonment without parole
- Cause of Death: Starvation and severe dehydration due to neglect
🚨 A Case That Shook a Community
This case has been described by local authorities as one of the worst child neglect cases in Ohio’s history, sparking widespread outrage and grief. It raised questions about parental responsibility, mental health care, and community awareness.
While the legal proceedings have concluded, the haunting image of a little girl left alone to die while her mother enjoyed a beach vacation remains a painful reminder of the consequences of neglect.
