A Florida family is seeking justice after their 10-month-old daughter died after being left in a hot car for five hours.
Ariya Paige’s family was prepared to celebrate her first birthday on September 4. However, unfortunate circumstances have forced them to grieve the infant’s death.
Rhonda Jewell, the child’s babysitter, took her up from her house on July 19, 2023. Jewell transported Paige to a different residence where she would be responsible for two more youngsters.
When she got at the house, however, the mother did not take the 10-month-old inside. Jewell reportedly left the youngster in the vehicle for five hours with the windows closed and the doors locked in 98-degree heat.
Pamela Paige revealed that her daughter-in-law, Brooke Paige, contacted her in a panic when she arrived at the house and discovered that her daughter was not there.
“Brooke was like, ‘Where’s Ariya?'”, “And she pushed past Brooke and ran to the car, and that’s when Brooke realized she had left Ariya in the car since she had picked her up that morning.”
The Fire and Rescue personnel calculated that the temperature inside the truck reached 133 degrees, according to the arrest record.
According to reports, the babysitter has been charged with aggravated manslaughter in connection with Ariya Paige’s death. Jewell allegedly said that she became distracted while babysitting the other children. She did, however, concede that she “assumed the child was asleep.” She then stated that she intended to return to the car later to “retrieve” the child.
Regardless, Jewell said that she eventually “forgot the child was there.” It was later discovered that the children babysat by Jewell on that day were Caucasian and deemed to be safe.
Despite the babysitter’s admission of guilt, the Baker County Sheriff’s Department declined to “go public” with the event, according to the Paige family. Furthermore, the family claims that Baker County Sheriff Scotty Rhoden “made sure to mention” that Jewell may not face harsh punishment for Ariya Paige’s death.
“He made sure to mention that she probably would not get a lot of time,” Devin Paige explained to Justin Carter. “He was very clear to mention to us that, at best, she would probably get probation. Even though he has no control over her sentencing, he made very sure to let us know not to set our expectations very high…”
It has also been revealed that a court granted Jewell an appearance waiver, allowing her to avoid her arraignment. Jewell was also freed from jail after posting a $25,000 bail.
The Paige family is now pursuing justice to ensure that Rhonda Jewell and others who conduct similar acts of child neglect are held accountable.
