Baker County babysitter sentenced to 17 years in prison in child’s hot car death

Rhonda Jewell Rhonda Jewell (Baker County Sheriff's Office)

By ActionNewsJax.com News Staff

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Rhonda Jewell, the former babysitter convicted of third-degree felony murder in the death of a 10-month-old baby girl, was sentenced Friday to 17 years in prison.

Jewell was convicted earlier this month of the murder charge and causing great bodily harm to a child by leaving them unattended in a car in July 2023 after leaving Ariya Paige inside of a 133-degree hot car for five hours.

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Ariya Paige 10-month-old Ariya Paige died in July 2023 after being left in a car for five hours where temperatures reached 133 degrees. (Ariya Paige family)

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