After a Fourth of July celebration in Florida, the parents of a deceased baby girl face aggravated manslaughter charges.
Authorities say the parents took their three young children to a party on a Tuesday night and didn’t get home until nearly 3 a.m.
Both parents allegedly consumed alcoholic beverages and marijuana during the party, with the father also allegedly using meth.
Jazmine reportedly urged her husband to bring their 18-month-old baby inside when they got home in the wee hours of Wednesday morning while she looked after their two older children, aged 6 and 8.
Joel had told police that one of the automobile doors had been left open.
After bringing in trays of food, he returned to find all four doors of his Hyundai Elantra closed, assuming his wife had brought the baby daughter inside.
Later, Joel and Jazmine went to bed without checking in with one another about where their daughter was.
It took Joel an hour to get ready for work when he got up at 10 in the morning. At about 11 a.m., the father of three requested his oldest to “check on the baby” in the bedroom. His eldest returned to report that the daughter was not present.
Joel had looked everywhere in the house for his missing daughter before venturing into the hot heat to check on the car, where he discovered his daughter motionless in the backseat, still in her car seat.
Joel hastily roused his sleeping wife. The parents hurried their infant to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center together, where the sheriff later claimed it was clear the child had “suffered a torturous death.”
Judd reported that the toddler’s internal body temperature remained at 104.4 degrees at 2:30 p.m., hours after being pulled from the automobile.
A homicide investigation was opened when the autopsy revealed the child had died of heat after being left in the car.
Later tests showed that Jazmine was an alcoholic and Joel was an alcoholic, a marijuana user, and a methamphetamine user.
On Thursday, the two were arrested and taken to the county prison. The sheriff claimed both were contrite and confessed they had been imbibing and using illegal substances.
In February 2023, he was arrested on a warrant for concealed carry of a firearm, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.
The two remaining Rondon children are reportedly living with relatives.
