Rhonda Jewell

Rhonda Charmane Jewell is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child in the death of 10-month-old Ariya Paige on July 20, 2023. Jewell collected Ariya from the mother's residence just west of Jacksonville at approximately 8am. Jewell then drove to another residence where she was going to babysit other children as well. When she arrived, she went inside the home, leaving Ariya Paige in the car. It wasn't until Ariya's mother arrived in the afternoon at around 1pm to pick up her child that Jewell realized she had left Ariya in the car, strapped in a car seat. The heat index value, which is a measure of how hot it really feels when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Jacksonville that day. The arrest report stated that the internal temperature of the car reached over 133 degrees. Ariya was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. Medical staff registered Ariya's internal temperature at 110 degrees which was the highest their thermometer could read.