A Florida father will reportedly spend the next two decades behind bars after he and his wife left their 18-month-old daughter in a car in the middle of the Sunshine State’s scorching hot summer.
Joel Rondon, 34, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of his daughter last year and was sentenced Friday by Judge Jalal Harb, according to Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT. Joel Rondon tested positive for methamphetamine, marijuana, and alcohol, while his wife Jazmine Rondon tested positive for both marijuana and alcohol. They left the toddler overnight after returning home from a Fourth of July party.
Rondon reportedly said he felt “shattered and scarred” by his daughter’s death, with Harb having harsh words for him at the sentencing.
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“One of the most impressive facts of this case is that you decided to go back to the vehicle to retrieve your cigarettes, and you didn’t notice your child there,” the judge reportedly said. “This is not a question and you’re done talking. You failed that child then, and you continue to fail that child now.”
Jazmine Rondon, 34, also is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and is awaiting trial.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that the Rondon’s attended the celebration in Lakeland with their three children, ages 8 years, 6 years, and 18 months old. The family arrived home at about 3:00 a.m. on July 5th, 2023, after both parents had consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana during the course of the party, the release states.
Upon their return, Jazmine Rondon instructed her husband to bring the toddler inside while she took the other two children into their home. Joel Rondon said the car door they used to access the child’s car seat was opened at that time. He then brought a few things inside and went back out where he observed that all four doors of the car had been closed. Assuming his wife had retrieved their daughter, Joel Rondon got into bed with his wife and went to sleep.
“Neither husband nor wife asked each other if they had brought the victim inside,” the release states.
Joel Rondon awoke around 10 a.m. the following morning and spent approximately an hour preparing for work. At around 11 a.m., he asked one of the older children to “check on the baby” in the bedroom, per the release. However, the child informed Joel that the baby was not in the bedroom, prompting him to search the house.
Eventually, Rondon ventured outside and looked inside the car, which was parked in the driveway, fully exposed to the sun. Inside the vehicle, he discovered the unresponsive toddler, still strapped into her car seat. In a panic, he brought the child inside before eventually driving her to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center with Jazmine.
Despite efforts to revive the girl and lower her body temperature, the child could not be saved and was pronounced dead at about 2:42 p.m., according to police. At the time of her death, authorities said the child’s internal body temperature was recorded at 104.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Medical center staff promptly notified law enforcement, who assumed control of the investigation.
“Even though it was painfully evident that this child suffered an absolutely torturous death, Lakeland Regional still worked on the baby to try to save its life. But it in fact was deceased,” Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Judd added that the heat index on the day of the victim’s death was 105 degrees.
Later that evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m., both parents willingly submitted to drug screenings conducted by the Department of Children and Families.
“Seventeen hours after arriving home from the party, Jazmine tests positive for alcohol and marijuana. Joel tests positive for alcohol, marijuana, and methamphetamines,” Judd said. “Seventeen hours later — so you can imagine what kind of shape they were in when they arrived from this party and left this child harnessed in the baby seat.”
A subsequent autopsy revealed that the cause of the victim’s death was hyperthermia resulting from being left inside a car, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. Joel and Jazmine were taken into custody in July 2023 and subsequently booked into the Polk County Jail.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report
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