It’s the kind of story that chills you to the bone — a mother’s betrayal so complete, it’s hard to comprehend.

When Kristel Candelario, 32, returned home to Cleveland in June 2023 after a ten-day trip to Puerto Rico, she told police a tragic story — that her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn, had been sick and “refusing food.” But what she didn’t say was that she had left her little girl alone in her playpen, without food or water, while she enjoyed sun-soaked beaches and tropical cocktails.

Body-cam footage shows her speaking calmly to officers, inventing details about her baby’s last days. “She was refusing,” she said, shrugging, as if confusion could soften the truth. While she smiled for vacation photos, her daughter was dying of starvation and dehydration in their home — a sight the medical examiner called unforgettable.

“You committed the ultimate betrayal,” Judge Brendan Sheehan told her at sentencing. “Just as you didn’t let Jailyn out of her confinement, you will live the rest of your life in one.”

Candelario has since been sentenced to life in prison without parole. In court, she wept and claimed she prays daily for forgiveness. But for those who knew Jailyn — neighbors who described her as “a happy baby, always smiling” — the sorrow runs too deep for words.

It’s a tragedy that leaves every parent asking the same painful question: How could anyone walk away?