BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — The Baker County woman found guilty of a baby’s death after leaving her in a 133-degree car in 2023 will now get a new trial.
Ariya was just 10 months old when she was forgotten about in the car for five hours in the middle of summer.
Medical staff determined that her internal temperature was 110 degrees.
Rhonda Jewell was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but was released on bond last year after filing an appeal, arguing that Florida law making it a crime to leave a child unattended in a car requires proof of intent.
And since the jury was told they could convict her without intent, two of her convictions have now been reversed.
“Rhonda Jewell basically said that she left Ariya in the car because she assumed she was sleeping,” said Pam Paige, Ariya’s grandmother. “So that, to us, said, okay, she initially meant to leave her in the car... she just forgot to go back.”
Paige says the news was unexpected.
“The laws are too relaxed when it comes to children being left in vehicles,” said Pam Paige, Ariya’s grandmother. “When you get this information, and you find out that someone can use a defense as simple as ‘Oh, I forgot. I just forgot,’ we were extremely disappointed.”
Chris Carson, a criminal defense attorney not associated with this case, says this error can affect the trial’s fairness.
“If the jurors are told, ‘Hey, this is what the law is,’ and that statement of the law is incorrect, then fundamentally they are ruling on things in an inappropriate way,” Carson said.
Now every time Ariya’s parents run errands, Paige says they risk coming face to face with one of the last images they have of their daughter.
“They see the vehicle that Ariya passed away in, we see [it] sometimes riding through town, and it’s heartbreaking,” Paige said. “[It] makes you feel like, ‘Do you have no remorse? Do you not care how we feel? Does it not matter to you that Araya died?’”
Paige says the family plans to go to legislators to make sure another family will never have to endure the pain of a new trial for the same reason.
“We hear about this every other day, it seems, children still being left in cars,” Paige said. “We don’t want anybody else to have to go through this.”
“We are seeking justice. Some may interpret that as revenge, and it’s not — we’re seeking accountability. We have love and forgiveness in our hearts, and we just want accountability for the loss of Ariya.”
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