LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A Lakeland father who left his 18-month-old daughter to die in a hot car after a Fourth of July party last year was sentenced on Friday.
Husband and wife, Joel and Jazmine Rondon, were arrested after the girl was rushed to the hospital the next day with an internal temperature of over 104 degrees.
Joel Rondon pleaded guilty to a single charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child in August and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with credit for time served, on Friday.
“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 was there,” said Judge Jalal Harb. “You failed that child then, or I should say you continued to fail that child.”
Assistant state attorney Tim Coleman called the death of the 18-month old, named Isabella, “horrific, ” adding the only form of justice available is punishment.
“The choices that he made are egregious but more importantly the result is egregious, the suffering that this child experienced was egregious,” said Coleman.
Officials said that the couple returned home from a Fourth of July party with their three children, ages 8, 6 and 18 months, at 2 a.m. on July 5. Jazmine told Joel to put the toddler to bed, but the child was not in her bedroom the next morning.
At 11 a.m., Joel found the girl unresponsive and rushed her to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, where her body temperature measured 104.4 degrees after three hours of life-saving measures and attempts to cool her down. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said both Joel and Jazmine tested positive for marijuana and alcohol 17 hours after leaving the party. Joel also tested positive for methamphetamines.
The parents were arrested on July 6 and taken to the Polk County Jail.
Both parents addressed the judge during Friday’s sentencing.
“Every night, like clockwork, the image of my daughter still trapped to her car seat haunts me,” said Joel Rondon. “The tragedy that would forever change our lives, the ensuing sadness and grief will never allow us to be the same.”
Rondon asked the judge to allow him to be with his three surviving children.
“I grew up in a house without a father in the picture and I am fully aware of the pain that comes with it,” said Rondon.
Jazmine Rondon, who is also in custody, told the judge their daughter, Isabella, loved her father, who she described as a caring man.
“Our family has been hit with a huge loss in the passing of our baby, Bella, and we just ask that we no longer be apart,” said Jazmine Rondon. “Please let this be the ending of our tragedy and heartache.”
The judge also heard from Rondon’s siblings.
“He really was like the person we would look up to as a brother. He was everything we really wanted to be when we got older,” said Jamirka Baez-Martinez.
Jazmine Rondon is also facing an aggravated manslaughter of a child charge and has pleaded not guilty.
She is due back in court Dec. 11 for a pretrial conference.
