Lakeland Father Sentenced To 20 Years In Fatal “Hot Car” Child Neglect Case
LAKELAND, Fla. – A Lakeland father has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the tragic death of his 18-month-old daughter. Joel Rondon pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in August.
According to deputies, on July 4, 2023, the couple went to a Fourth of July celebration in Lakeland with three children under the age of 9 years old and did not return home until around 3:00 a.m. on July 5th. The pair consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana while at the party.
When they returned home and began unloading food and items from the car, Jazmine told Joel to bring the 18-month-old toddler, Isabella , inside while she brought the two other children inside.
Joel saw that one of the car doors was open then and brought stuff from their vehicle inside their home. When he went back outside, he saw all four doors to the Hyundai Elantra closed and assumed Jazmine had gotten the toddler out of the vehicle.
He went inside and lay down in bed with his wife. Neither husband nor wife asked each other if they had brought Isabella inside. They went to sleep.
Joel woke up around 10:00 a.m. that morning and spent about an hour preparing for work. Around 11:00 a.m. he asked one of the kids to go "check on the baby" in the bedroom.
The child told Joel that Isabella was not in the bedroom, so Joel began looking around the house for her. He then went outside and looked in the car parked in the driveway in the full sun. Inside the car he saw the victim still strapped in her car seat and unresponsive.
He brought the toddler, still strapped in her car seat, into the house in a panic, and then he and Jazmine drove the child to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.
Despite all efforts and cooling her body, she could not be revived and was declared deceased. At 2:42 p.m., her internal body temperature was 143.5. Hospital staff notified law enforcement, and they assumed the investigation.
The sentencing judge expressed deep disappointment in Rondon's negligence, highlighting the preventable nature of the tragedy. The judge emphasized that Rondon's failure to check on his child and his subsequent actions contributed to the child's death.
Rondon's wife, Jazmine, is scheduled for a court hearing in December to determine whether she will face trial.
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