CLEVELAND — Neighbors who live along West 97th Street are heartbroken about the death of a 16-month-old baby girl.
"We couldn't believe she was gone," said one neighbor who didn't want to be identified.
The baby's mother, 31-year-old Kristel Candelario, is charged with murder in connection to her daughter's death.
"Jailyn, she was a happy baby, always smiling, always curious about stuff. She was a wonderful, wonderful baby," the neighbor added.
According to Cleveland Municipal Court records, Candelario told police she left her 16-month-old daughter home alone and unattended while she went on vacation to Puerto Rico and Detroit.
A neighbor said this isn't the first time she left the baby home alone.
"We keep telling her not to leave her by herself, not just me, my friend across the street too, but she always leave her by herself," the neighbor said.
Neighbors said Candelario lives in the house with her two daughters and her parents. According to neighbors, her parents recently went on vacation and took Candelario's older daughter with them. "There were so many people here; she could have knocked on any of our doors and asked us to take Jailyn," said another neighbor.
Court records revealed that when Candelario returned after eight days, she found her daughter unresponsive in a Pack N Play where she left her alone.
According to officials with Children and Family Services, there is no record of any previous cases involving Candelario.
News 5 discovered Candelario worked at Hope Academy Northcoast as an instructional aide during the 2019-2020 school year. She worked at Citizens Academy Glenville since the fall of 2020.
Jayah J Watters-Clark, managing director of communications for The Breakthrough Schools, released this statement:
"Based on recent reports regarding charges brought against Kristel Candelario, a building substitute at Citizens Academy Glenville, since November of 2022, we have terminated her employment effective immediately.
We are conducting an internal review to determine if there were any complaints of improper conduct during her tenure at Breakthrough Public Schools.
As public servants and educators, our top priority remains fostering safe learning environments for our scholars and community. We join all of Cleveland in grieving this terrible loss."
Candelario is currently being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on a $1 million bond.
RELATED: Toddler dies after being left home alone while mother goes on weeklong vacation, court docs state
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