A Cleveland woman who pleaded guilty to aggravated murder after leaving her toddler home alone in a playpen while she went on a 10-day vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison without parole.

A judge found that Kristel Candelario, 32, had committed the ultimate act of betrayal when she left her 16-month-old daughter, Jailyn Candelario, in a playpen, trapped in a tiny prison, while she traveled to Puerto Rico and Detroit last June.

Just as you didnt let Jailyn out of her confinement, so too you should spend the rest of your life in a cell without freedom, Judge Brendan Sheehan told Candelario in handing down the sentence.

Forensic pathologist Elizabeth Mooney determined Jailyn died from starvation and severe dehydration due to pediatric neglect and ruled Jailyns death a homicide.