A baby girl died after being left home alone in Cleveland for 10 days as her mother traveled without having made any arrangements for the 16-month-old’s care, officials said Thursday.
Kristel Candelario, 31, was arrested and charged with murder after her baby girl, Jailyn, was found unresponsive at their home at 3129 W. 97th St., police said.
There were “no signs of trauma” and the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office’s investigation revealed that “the child had been left alone and unattended for approximately 10 days and had subsequently died,” according to a police statement.
Candelario had been traveling to Puerto Rico and Detroit, investigators told NBC affiliate WKYC.
Neighbors of the mom and child told the station that Candelario had asked them to take care of Jailyn in the past and didn’t understand why the suspect hadn’t reached for their help again.
“Jailyn really didn’t deserve what happened to her. She was amazing and really adorable and I miss her a lot,” a 13-year-old neighbor told WKYC.
It wasn’t immediately clear on Thursday if Candelario had hired an attorney or been assigned counsel.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.