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10-month-old Ariya Paige died after she was left strapped in her car seat for five hours. Rhonda Jewell was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but is now out on bond.
BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — A community is filled with anger and left with questions after learning Rhonda Jewell, a Baker County babysitter convicted of third-degree murder in the 2023 death of 10-month-old Ariya Paige, was released on bond.
That’s despite Jewell’s 17-year prison sentence.
This bond is called a supersedeas bond. It allows Jewell to be released pending the outcome of her appeal.
A judge granted Jewell a $100,000 bond because she had no criminal history before this case and was not considered a flight risk.Â
While released on bond, Jewell was ordered to surrender her passport, wear a GPS monitoring device, abide by a daily curfew and have no unsupervised contact with any child under six years old.
A Change.org petition is demanding the bond to be revoked. As of Feb. 25, the petition has gained over 7,000 signatures.
First Coast News spoke with Ariya’s mother, Brooke Paige, who shared details of the day she discovered her daughter’s body.
Brooke Paige explained Rhonda Jewell picked up Ariya that morning as usual. When Brooke Paige arrived to pick up her daughter during her lunch break, she was met with a horrifying scene.
Brooke Paige says Jewell was screaming and frantically ran to the car where the baby had been left unattended for hours. Ariya Paige was strapped in her car seat with blue and purple lips.
Her mother called 911. The paramedics took her to the hospital but she was too far gone.Â
“You take the most trusted person that you had and, you know, give them your most valuable piece of life, and all of a sudden, you know, in three seconds it’s like it’s over with,” Brooke Paige said.
Ariya Paige’s grandmother, Pamela Paige said it’s all about fighting for Ariya Paige and being her voice.
“We want the community to continue to know, all of our friends, all of our family, all of the community to continue to know this is about getting justice for Ariya, because she deserves it.” Pamela Paige said.
First Coast News will continue to follow this developing story and will have more on the legal complexities of the case.
