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.
“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.”