Cleveland woman indicted on murder charges after leaving her 16-month-old child alone for 10 days, prosecutors say

Story by CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire

6/27/2023

Originally Published: 27 JUN 23 11:11 ET

Updated: 27 JUN 23 15:12 ET

By Michelle Watson, CNN

(CNN) — A Cleveland woman has been indicted on murder charges after she left her 16-month-old child alone for 10 days while she vacationed in Detroit and Puerto Rico and the baby died, prosecutors say.

CNN Video

Neighbors speak out after woman indicted for murder for leaving baby alone

A Cleveland woman has been indicted on murder charges after she left her 16-month-old child alone for 10 days while she vacationed in Detroit and Puerto Rico, prosecutors say. CNN affiliate WEWS spoke to people in the woman's neighborhood. Source: CNN, WEWS

“On June 6, 2023, Kristel Candelario left her 16-month-old daughter alone and unattended at her residence near Lorain Avenue and West 97th Street in Cleveland,” a Monday release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said. “She did not return to her child until June 16, 2023, around 8 a.m. Upon returning, Candelario found her 16-month-old daughter unresponsive and called the police.”

Authorities declared the “extremely dehydrated” 16-month-old dead on arrival, according to the release. The girl was found in a Pack ‘n Play pen “on a liner soiled with urine and feces with soiled blankets,” the release said.

Candelario was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, felonious assault, and endangering children, prosecutors say.

Court records indicate she’s being held in jail on a $1 million bond with a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.