Sheriff Was Ready To Commit Suicide After What He Saw | Disturbing True Crime_VMDT

Sheriff Was Ready To Commit Suicide After What He Saw | Disturbing True Crime_VMDT

their res. I want out. I want out. I want out. I want out. I want out. On July 19th, 2023, Brooke Paige arrived to pick up her 10-month-old daughter, Arya, from the babysitter. It was supposed to be an ordinary day. Arya was with a woman the family had known for years. She was the little girl’s grandmother’s best friend.
She had worked as a babysitter since she was 17. She had cared for Arya before. But when Brooke walked up to the door, the babysitter did not answer. She asked where her daughter was, and that was when Rhonda Juel ran to her SUV. Arya was still strapped into her car seat in the back seat. Next to her was the bag Brooke had packed that morning. Diapers, wipes, a pacifier, medication.
Nothing had been used. The baby had never entered the house. For 5 hours, she had remained inside the locked vehicle beneath the Florida summer sun. Investigators estimated that the temperature inside may have reached between 150 and 160° F. Brooke dropped to her knees beside her daughter and began performing CPR. Arya was taken to the hospital soon afterward.
Meanwhile, [music] Rhonda Juul began telling police that she had simply forgotten the child in the car that morning. But during questioning, investigators learned that during those 5 hours, she had even spoken with Arya’s mother. Hey guys, let me grab you for just a second. I’m really curious where my audience is watching from.
So, I’d love for you to drop a comment and tell me what city you’re in and what time it is for you right now. Thanks for taking a moment. Go ahead and share that in the comments. And now, let’s keep going. It was 2016 in Baker County, Florida, a place far removed from the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the student dining halls of Harvard.
Two teenagers fell in love. His name was Justice Kelves Page. He was the kind of young man who smiled easily. He grew up in Mcclenny, a town of around 7,000 people surrounded by pine forests and open plains where the biggest landmark was a single traffic light and life seemed to move at its own honest pace.
Her name was Brooke Taylor Leo. Brooke was someone who paid close attention to the world around her. She was warm and sincere, not in a forced way, but naturally. She was creative, thoughtful, and endlessly devoted to the people she loved. They had been high school sweethearts, and everyone at school knew their love story.
They dated for 4 years before Justice finally proposed to Brooke. On October 9th, 2021, Brooke and Justice stood across from one another and officially joined their lives together. Brooke wrote that their marriage was the greatest blessing of her life. They could not wait to build the life they had dreamed about. The couple was very close to Justice’s mom and dad.
They loved Brooke like she was their own daughter. In January of 2022, when Brooke learned she was pregnant, Justice’s mother, Pamela Paige, a registered [music] nurse, could barely contain her emotions. This was going to be her first granddaughter, the first child of a new generation in the Paige family. They were already making plans and dreaming about the future.
They were setting up a nursery, choosing a name, and imagining a life together, one that was simple, peaceful, and full in all the ways that mattered. But the pregnancy was not easy. At some point during those months, Brooke’s body began to struggle. She developed preeacclampsia, a condition in which blood pressure rises dangerously high and puts both the mother and the baby at risk. There was no long warning period.
The timeline changed. The careful countdown they had been following suddenly sped up. On September 4th, 2022, 6 weeks before anyone was ready, Arya Renee Paige was born. She weighed just 4 lb and 1 oz and measured 17 in long, so tiny that she could fit in Justice’s hand.
But to the Paige family, she was the most beautiful and extraordinary little person they had ever seen. Arya was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at Wolson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville. Doctors monitored her for 2 weeks before Brooke and Justice were finally able to bring their daughter home.
And from the moment she was born, everyone who knew them said her parents loved her beyond measure. For her grandparents, Pam and her husband, meeting their first granddaughter was a moment they would never forget. Did you poo poo miss? My mom’s nemesis  is in charge of our faith. Did you yoga time? I wish I had better news.
Did you at all? I mean, has anybody seen my mom? I think you did. [music] Where you from? Is there a middle ground in there somewhere? She was a summer baby. She loved being outside. She was a true beach baby. One of her favorite things in the world was going boating with her dad. She was daddy’s little princess.
At home, she had two inseparable friends, a stuffed bunny named Mr. Nibbles and a stuffed elephant named Miss Ella. Despite her difficult start in life, Arya was surrounded by love. Her grandparents watched with pride as their son and daughter-in-law embraced parenthood with unwavering devotion. But above all, according to her family, Arya was a daddy’s girl.
She was so full of life that she would run up to her sleeping father and gently smack him awake just because she wanted his attention. And in Brook’s words, she was her little mini me and her best friend. This was a young family with two working parents. Brooke and Justice were like millions of parents across America.
They were building a life, working hard, and relying on loved ones to help care for their child. After Arya came home, Brooke took 12 weeks of maternity leave and Justice also took parental leave. They spent every day of that leave with their daughter, dreading the moment it would end. When Brook’s maternity leave ended, they needed to find someone to care for their baby. Thankfully, they had family support. At first, one of their relatives agreed to watch Arya, and everything went very well.
That arrangement worked smoothly until her own children came home for summer break. After that, she could no longer care for Arya. That was when they began looking for a new babysitter. And that was when they met a woman who had already cared for many children in their area and was known for her motherly way with kids.
Her name was Rhonda Charmaine Juel. She was 46 years old. In her small community, Rhonda was the woman parents trusted with the most fragile part of their lives, their children. Rhonda had cared for children for most of her adult life. She started babysitting as a teenager at 17, then took a break to raise her own three children. When they grew up, she returned to child care.
Parents in Mlenny knew her, liked her, and recommended her to others because she loved spending time with children. Rhonda was not a licensed daycare owner. She was a local babysitter whom parents hired directly and paid in cash to care for their children in her home. Mothers described her as kind, gentle, and attentive. They said she treated the children as if they were her own.
One of those children was 10-month-old Arya Paige. But Arya was not just another child on Rhonda’s schedule. For years, Rhonda had been the best friend of Monique, Arya’s grandmother. She had been close to the family from the very beginning. She attended Brook’s wedding. She was at Arya’s baby shower, sitting in the front row and celebrating the arrival of the very child she would one day be trusted to protect. She was supposed to care for Arya every Monday and Wednesday from 8:00 in the morning until 1:00 in the afternoon. Family members covered the rest of the week.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Arya’s paternal grandmother, Pamela Paige, cared for her at her own home. Every Friday, Arya’s maternal grandmother, Monnique Carter, adjusted her work schedule. Every day was carefully planned, and Arya was always surrounded by people her parents knew and trusted. They did everything they could to make sure their daughter was always in safe hands.
By the summer of 2023, caring for Arya had become a routine part of Rhonda’s daily life. Every morning she picked Arya up, buckled her into her car seat, and drove her to her home where she was already caring for other children. Then early in the afternoon around 1:00, Arya’s mother would arrive and take her home. Rhonda cared for several children at once.
Her work was demanding and frankly sometimes a little chaotic, and that is what makes this case so chilling. Because before July 19th, 2023, no one considered Rhonda dangerous. People trusted her, they knew her, and the family felt safe with her. The temperature was nearing 100° F, making it one of the hottest days of the year. At around 8:00 that morning, Rhonda Juel arrived at Brook’s home in Mlenny to pick up Arya.
Brooke had already fed and dressed Arya. She had also packed her bag with everything she might need. Diapers, wipes, a pacifier, and medication in case of an emergency. Juel then drove to her second babysitting job on Estess Street where three children from the Pascal family were waiting for her.
She normally arrived there every day between 8:30 and 9:00, but that morning she was supposed to be there earlier at 8:15, and she was already running late. When she pulled into the driveway, she was focused on only one thing, getting inside as quickly as possible and starting to care for the other children.
As she walked from the vehicle to the house, she thought Arya was asleep and did not want to disturb [music] her, so she decided she would get her out of the car later. Arya slept quietly while Juel went inside and began caring for the Pascal children. And outside, Arya was left alone in the vehicle. The SUV was not parked in a garage or beneath a carport. It was parked by the driveway under the unforgiving Florida summer sun.
With every passing hour, the temperature inside the vehicle climbed higher and higher. This is the part of the story where one word immediately comes to mind. How? How do you not bring a baby into the house? How do you not notice that the child in your care is missing? How can a 10-month-old baby simply slip someone’s mind? How do you forget someone’s baby in a car for 5 hours? Inside that house, life went on. Ronda Juel fed the children.
(11:50) She changed their diapers, maybe broke up arguments over toys. It was an ordinary day of babysitting, just like thousands of other days in her life. And outside in the driveway on the back seat of the locked SUV, the temperature kept rising. A little after 1:00, Brooke Paige arrived to pick up her daughter.
It was supposed to be the most ordinary moment of the day, but it would later become something that haunted her for the rest of her life. Arya’s mother arriving was what shattered that illusion. When she asked Rhonda about Arya, Rhonda immediately ran to the SUV and realized she had forgotten her inside. Brooke followed her and when she looked through the window, she saw Arya still strapped into her car seat.
The same bag Brooke had packed that morning was sitting beside her, completely untouched. Not a single item had been taken out. Juel pulled Arya from the car seat, carried her into the garage, and immediately called 911. Brooke dropped to her knees beside her daughter and began CPR, following the 911 dispatcher’s instructions [music] and breathing air into lungs that had been still for far too long. First responders rushed to the scene where Brooke and Rhonda were crying uncontrollably.
[laughter] What you need? Yeah, she’s burning up. Got it. Yep. Here, I’ll help you. I got it. The car doors were open, too. So, sure. Just came out of the car. She’s in the car. She’s put on her neck. Yeah. Let me know when you’re ready. Folly 31. Be advised, CPR’s in progress. [laughter] Sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical personnel fought to save her life. Brooke felt helpless and furious.
I can’t do this. I can’t do I can’t do this. I can’t do this. No, I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. [screaming] I will. I can’t. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. Arya was rushed to the local hospital right away. Every minute was critical. going to Frasers 3148. Are you rolling? Intersection somewhere. Yeah, you walk away right here.
Y in the name of Jesus my grandbaby. I understand they’re they need to work them. Arya’s grandmother rushed to the hospital as soon as she heard what had happened to her granddaughter. She and Brooke waited outside praying to God that he would save Arya. Then the doctor delivered the worst news a parent could ever hear.
grandmother. I want I want out. I want out. I want out. I want out. [screaming] [screaming] [music] I can’t do this. I I I don’t know what to do, but I want to be in No, no, no. I can’t I can’t I can’t do this anymore. I don’t even want it. I don’t want it. It was to pay the babysitter and I don’t want to pay her.
I can’t do this. There’s somewhere we can take her and be nice and chapel. Let’s go to the chapel. The Baker County Sheriff’s Office almost immediately treated Arya’s death as a criminal case and brought Ronda Juel in for questioning. Mr. Escort to the sheriff’s office. Take her. Come back. It won’t take long just to drop her off and they’ll sit on it. Okay.
Is there anything you want to do? Yeah. Let me let me look. That’s a question for her. As of right now, I’m not quite sure cuz I have no details either. I’m Yeah, I got nothing out. So, I’m asking Yeah, I can. Can I come inside with you? Make sure. Tell her bring some ID, too. Hey, she’s got change. Have her bring her ID back, too. Did you tell her her to call my husband? Go tell her. Call her call her husband.
What’s his miss Rhonda? What’s his number? I’m going to jail. Walmart 8 Market. Rhonda Juul was arrested and it was at that point that she began describing in detail exactly what had happened that morning. Her account would determine whether she had truly forgotten the child in the car or whether it had been entirely intentional.
I pick up Aria from her house, but today was an earlier day because she the other the other lady needed me at at 8:15. So, I picked her up at 8:00, which is usually 8:30. Anyway, so I picked her up and I pulled through Burger King to get something to eat, but the line was too long, so I left and went went job I was at on the State Street. Right.
Mhm. Right. Um, so I got there um at 8:15 and the baby was like cuz she was asleep. She was quiet and because I don’t keep her every day as it’s [clears throat] forgot she was there. So I went inside, got busy with the other kids and um I even talked to the mom throughout the day and it just didn’t click right that the baby was outside.
So that was at 8:00. What time did you realize the baby was outside? You know what time roughly that was? One. When 911 was called. Okay. Um, how many kids were in the car when you got home with her? When you got to that house today? Just her. Just her. Just her. Rhonda told the officer outright that she had spoken with Arya’s mother during the day while the child was still outside in the vehicle.
And yet, she said she simply did not realize it. How could someone speak with a mother and still forget about her child? Something about this felt deeply off. Get her and take her inside. But I’m saying you said you noticed that she was asleep when you got there. Well, she would I I assume she was asleep. She didn’t make any noise. Okay. She wasn’t making any noise.
Yeah. I I just picked her up and her mom said that she would probably go go to sleep. So, I just assumed she had fell asleep, but she wasn’t making she didn’t make any noise. Okay.
And the questions that will come up is, you know, is anything on your mind? Have you are you going through something personally that would cause you not to, you know, think about it? I mean, we have a kid moving to college, so we’re doing that. And right, we’re going to we’re London and we’re supposed to go on vacation tomorrow. And that was the entire foundation of her defense. Although detectives were not satisfied with that answer, they kept asking about her usual routine, trying to understand whether there had been even one moment when she intended to go back for Arya.
After investigators heard Rhonda’s account and examined the scene, Baker County authorities made their position clear and firm. In their view, this was not an unavoidable accident. Investigators at the scene later confirmed that the temperature inside the vehicle reached 134° F that day when the car was open and likely reached between 150 and 160° F while Arya was inside. That was 134 interior. That’s the door being open.
The door being open so you know it was probably 150 or 60 in there when it happened. This was an extremely negligent and [music] dangerous act. It was not something anyone would expect from a woman who had three children of her own and had worked as a babysitter for so many years.
At her first court hearing, she was placed in the Baker County Detention Center. The judge set her bond at $25,000 with GPS monitoring if she was released. She was barred from contacting Arya’s family and ordered to surrender her passport. Prosecutors had essentially asked the judge to deny Bond entirely and keep her in custody, but the judge made a telling point. At that time, the case had not been classified as murder.
It was a manslaughter case. So, the judge allowed bond. By the time the case went before a jury, Ronda Juul faced three charges: murder, child neglect, and manslaughter. The prosecution’s position was simple. A baby had been placed in her care and that baby died. Whatever the reason, whatever the explanation, Ronda Jewel was responsible for Arya that day and Arya did not come home because of her senseless mistake.
Together, those charges reflected the prosecution’s position that what happened that [music] day was not simply a tragic mistake, but conduct that carried criminal responsibility under Florida law. On July 25th, 2023, just 6 days after Arya’s death, the Baker County community gathered for something no family should ever have to endure.
The funeral of a 10-month-old child at Christian Fellowship Temple in Mlenny, friends, relatives, and neighbors came together to honor Arya’s life. Before the service began, those who came to say goodbye quietly passed by her small casket, pausing beside photographs that showed the little girl as her family knew her, smiling, joyful, and surrounded by love.
When the service ended, Arya’s family made the final journey to Quipman Cemetery in nearby Sanderson. There, in the quiet of a small rural cemetery, she was laid to rest. Arya never got to celebrate her first birthday. took a toll on us, our family. Um, there was a couple bumps in the road. Um, but we pushed through. We pushed through together as a family, as a community. Um, and we just kept going.
Later, her mother-in-law said in an interview that this time would have been far harder without the support of their family and community. Granddaughter was so so special. Um, she she [music] came into the world uh 6 weeks earlier. As a proud granddad, what was it like to hold her for the first time? where it was just like holding a brand new baby up like it was my very own.
Aria was a she was a daddy’s girl and she was her mama’s mini me. Although Arya was with them for only 10 months, it felt as though their entire lives revolved around that sweet little girl. Then her sudden loss had a devastating impact on them. the last moments that we were able to spend with Aria to look at her, you you didn’t see you didn’t see the results of what happened to her. You just saw that sweet baby.
She was just asleep. She was just asleep. So, and because she was asleep, I believe she just slept and didn’t wake up. and the medical examiner confirmed that’s what happened, [snorts] but she just slept. But here is what you need to understand because it is extremely important to what comes next. Brooke and Justice Paige did not go home and grieve in silence.
In the first days after Arya’s death, they stood up and fought before the flowers from her funeral had even wilted. Family members and dozens of friends gathered at the intersection of Mlenny Avenue and Sixth Street. They held large signs with Arya’s photo and the words that became the central message of the entire case.
Justice for Arya. That rally is called Justice for Aria. You see dozens of people stationed at the four corners of the intersection of Mlenny Avenue and Sixth Street. A lot of people holding up different signs with pictures of Aria. And [music] their message is that they say they want justice for Aria, including that same message coming from her parents.
Baby Aria kissing her mother. This is the last video Brooke and Justice Paige have of their only child. She grabbed my shirt and pulled up on me and I was like, “Oh my gosh, Aria, I think we’re almost to your first steps.” She would pull on my chin and the little bit of air that I have, she’d pull on it and um she’d always just come up to me and if I’m asleep, she would slap me and wake me up. And she just she she was a daddy’s girl.
The family began speaking out publicly, hoping no other child would ever have to endure something like this. Every time you do get into a hot car, just remember that that was my daughter in that car for 5 hours. I just don’t want any other babies or any other children to ever experience what Aria did cuz it it hurts.
Do everything that I can to just to get justice for her. Wake up every day and I tell myself I got to do this for Aria. At that point, Phillips and the family began pushing for a broader initiative, a legislative campaign. They called it Arya’s law. Its goal was to raise awareness and strengthen protections for children left in vehicles.
Governor Ronda Santis signed a bill officially declaring April as hot car child death prevention month in Florida. The month was chosen intentionally. It comes right before the heat begins. At the very time families need that reminder most. In 2023, the year Arya died, 25 children across the United States died after being left in hot vehicles. Arya was the 16th.
The following year, that number rose to 40 children. In a single year, Florida, where Arya lived and died, ranked second in the nation for child hot car deaths behind only Texas. Arya’s name was no longer found only on a headstone or in a funeral program. It appeared in headlines across Florida. Her family turned an unbearable loss into a movement. But there was still one place where they had not found justice.
The courtroom. November of 2024. More than a year had passed since Arya died in that vehicle. And now the case that had divided Baker County was finally going to trial. 12 jurors had to answer one brutal simple question. Was this a crime or a catastrophic mistake? The state called Arya’s father first. Justice Paige walked to the witness stand knowing exactly who was sitting in that courtroom. The woman who had been entrusted with his daughter’s care.
The woman who had driven his 10-month-old baby girl to her death. Sitting just a few feet away from her. He told the jury what he felt when he received that phone call. Uh I was looking around and I asked, “Where’s Aria?” And um my mom told me that she had passed away. Were you ever allowed to go see Gariah? Yes, sir.
[music] And where was that at? Um, it’s in a hospital room, but she was laying in the bed. And were other family members allowed in there with you? Yes, sir. Then it was Brook’s turn. She cried through nearly all of her testimony. There were moments when she could barely get the words out.
And when the prosecution placed the photographs in front of her, the photographs of Arya, the vehicle, and the bag that had never been opened, even once she finally broke down completely. Um, she was a very bubbly little girl. Um, she would laugh. She she was never [music] a bad baby. [gasps] Um, she was constantly so happy, but she would stare through you like no other person. She [snorts] didn’t care who you were, even me. She’d look at me and make me laugh at those little goofy looks.
Um, at that point she was saying, “Da.” Um, she was just getting to the point where she was able to pull up on stuff like she was about to start walking. Um, she was just so giggly and happy, so bubbly, such an outgoing baby. I can’t You would just have to see her and you would just fall in [music] love.
Stace exhibit B, stage exhibit C. Just look at them yourself. Yes, she may approach. identification obviously recognize that as well. Yes. It’s okay. [laughter] [snorts] I’m going to go ahead and receive on subject to the objections raised by Brookke also told the jury something small but devastating to everyone in that courtroom. She said the final video of Arya on her phone, the very last one,
showed her daughter doing something remarkable for such a young age, pulling herself up to stand, almost ready to take her first steps. But she never got the chance to take them. She grabbed my shirt and pulled up on me and I was like, “Oh my gosh, Aria, I think we’re almost to your first steps.
” The prosecution’s message to the jury was clear and unwavering. Ronda Juel was not an exhausted mother. She was not someone rushing through a chaotic morning with three children and a forgotten cup of coffee. She was a paid professional. She had been hired specifically to care for this child. And her one job, her one responsibility that morning was to keep Arya safe. She failed completely and the baby died.
To the state, the words I forgot were not a defense. They were an admission of failure. The defense told a different story. They told the jury that what happened that day was a tragedy, not a crime. There was no motive, no intent, and no malice. Ronda Juel did not have the mindset of a killer, and nothing in the evidence suggested otherwise.
They argued that a catastrophic lapse in memory, no matter how devastating, was not the same thing as a criminal act. The defense then called Rhonda Juel to testify. She told the jury about the exact moment it all came rushing back to her. Brooke came to the door holding money in one hand and keys in the other.
And then in an instant, the realization hit her like a wall. She said, “I’m here.” And I said, “Here?” I said, “Where are you at?” And she said, “Um, I’m at the door.” And I said, “Oh.” And did you go to the door at that time? I did, but I didn’t I didn’t know why she was there.
So I was I was like, “What are you doing?” And she said, “I’m here.” And I So [music] I asked her what where was she was at? She said, “I’m at the door.” Did you go to the front door? I I did. What happened [music] when you opened the front door? Um she opened or opened up the door and I seen her [music] and I was still in shock while she was there. And so she had money in her hand and her keys and and that’s when I realized I didn’t get the baby at the car.
I forgot I forgot the [laughter] I forgot the [crying] I forgot the baby in the car. And so I pushed her out the way. And I’m screaming, “Oh my god, broke. Oh my god. Oh my god, broke.” And she’s I could hear her saying, “What? What? What?” And I ran to ran to the car and I opened up the door and she was still there was still in the back seats.
But it was one detail that happened after she pulled Arya from the car that made everyone in the courtroom freeze. Even after everything that had already been heard during the trial, it was difficult to comprehend. In the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the horror, in the middle of realizing that a small child had been left inside a scorching vehicle, Rhonda Juel went back into the house, not to immediately get help, not to check on Arya again.
She went back to make sure she had not left the stove on. For everyone sitting in that courtroom, that detail was especially chilling. It showed just how chaotic and incomprehensible her actions were in those critical minutes. While Arya’s life hung in the balance, Rhonda Juel was thinking about the stove. And that was the detail that left the courtroom in silence.
Did you go back inside Stacy’s [music] home at that point? I remembered that they were supposed to be eating lunch and I went to go check and see if the stove was still on. I couldn’t remember if I turned it off or what. What? And I just asked Maddie, the oldest daughter. I said, “Just please keep him in here. Please keep him in here. Don’t let him come outside.
” She could not remember whether she had turned off the stove, but for 5 hours, she never once thought about the child in the car. Now it was time for Rhonda to face the consequences. December of 2024. One month after the verdict, Rhonda Juul was back in the same courtroom. This time, she was there for sentencing.
Prosecutors asked for 20 years in prison. Her attorney read letters from the community, from parents whose children she had cared for, and from neighbors who had known her for decades. They described a woman who could not sleep, could not eat, and had been devastated by what she had done. Then Rhonda stood up herself.
She turned to Brooke and Justice, said their names, and apologized for what she had done to their child. Nothing I can say or do that will ever heal your broken hearts. You will never know how truly sorry I am. I was the go-to person to take care of child to make sure she was happy to make sure she was caught on McDonald’s when she went home. I let you down. You trusted me and I failed to hold up my duties for the day.
I’m truly sorry, broken justice. I have prayed for that awful awful day that you could find it in your heart to forgive me. I pray you remembered I love Dia and I love love love y’all. We have shared together shared memories together that are always special.
Being able to save her sweet memories for moments, graduation, wedding, baby, and baby shower. That will always close my heart. And justice, the love that you have for your family. It’s unescribable. That’s one of my favorite moments. Hard things about you. Your selfless is admirable. Acceptance is admirable and I will forever be grateful for your friendship. Monkey, you were my best friend.
You were my family. Your kids were my kids and my kids were your kids. Rhonda Juel’s words offered the Paige family only faint, belated comfort. After everything they had endured. After losing Arya and spending long months fighting for justice, no words could change what had happened. For Brooke and Justice, this was not a moment that could bring real relief. Their daughter was not coming back.
Her place in their home would remain empty, and the pain of losing her would not disappear because of an apology or remorse expressed after the tragedy. And they made that clear to Ronda Juel. Their reaction left no doubt. The words may have been spoken in the courtroom, but they could not undo what could never be undone.
A picture of how Ronald impacted our lives so much on our careless actions. We’d have so much trust in our own and believed in our daughter would be in the best of care with her. For her to be so close to our family and have shown no remorse for what she did to us is so careless and agonizing. She has no remorse for what she did.
She’s going to game all the time to enjoy herself, to go watch her daughter pursue her dreams when I don’t even have the chance to do that because she took my daughter away from me. Everyone in that courtroom cried as they listened to Brooke. Her words carried through a silence that felt heavy, almost unbearable.
In every sentence, there was the pain of a mother who had lost her child and now had to speak about it before people who could not give her back the person she loved most. But after Justice spoke, there were even more tears. His voice, his grief, and the pain of a father who had lost his daughter forever finally broke the composure of everyone in the room. In that moment, there was no one left untouched.
There was only silence, tears, and the realization that Ariel would never come home again. Watching her being carried out under a seat with a hollow [snorts] It’s the worst feeling I ever felt in my life. Watching her get carried out under her sheet was a feeling [snorts] it was the worst feeling I’ve ever felt in my life. Watching her getting carried out under sheet was a feeling I will never forget.
Mariah brought so much joy to my life as a new dad. She made being a dad so easy. Her laughing giggles would carry my attention every time would catch my attention every time. Hearing those words, dad, will put the biggest smile on my face.
I’ll never be able to walk around down the aisle, buy her first car, or take her to school for the first time. I watch her follow me around New York while I mow and wash cars. She was almost at the point where she was going to take her first steps, but I’ll never get to see or do any of these things with her because they were all robbed from us by one careless person, Ronald. To even think Ronald could be so careless to leave my daughter in a hot car for 5 hours is so heart- reaching.
She [snorts] has taken so much trust away from my families to even enjoy the rides with her brother on their own time. Never would have thought I would have to be on the lookout to not run into Rhonda Joel around this town to see her driving around that she let my daughter in. The judge sentenced Rhonda Charmaine Juel to 17 years in prison.
After the trial concluded, the sentence became an official acknowledgement of what had happened to little Arya and how irreversible that loss was for her family. In early 20125, Rhonda Juel began serving her sentence at the Florida Women’s Reception Center in Ocala. Behind the walls of that facility, her 17-year prison term began. For her, it was the beginning of her punishment. For the Paige family, it was the moment they had waited for after months of pain, despair, and fighting.
For Brooke, Justice, and everyone who loved Arya, this sentence could not bring their child back. It could not change that day in July or erase the memories of the worst moments of their lives. But it became at least a partial answer to their question.
Would anyone be held accountable for what happened? marches, rallies, sleepless nights, endless conversations with journalists, advocates, and people who supported their fight. All of it became part of a journey the Page family never chose, but was forced to walk. Out of their grief, they built an entire army of people. People who demanded answers. People who refused to let Arya’s name fade from memory.
People who stood beside her parents as they fought for justice. And in the end, all of it finally brought them at least some measure of justice. I feel like an elephant has been off of our shoulders and we feel relieved. Um like there’s not something holding us down. Um just feel better that she’s not roaming the streets and behind bars where she belongs.
They did not yet know that this relief would last only a short time. After everything the family had been through, the sentence felt like the moment the case had finally reached its end. It seemed that accountability had been established and that the person responsible for Arya’s death had been punished.
But the ink on the sentence was barely dry when Ronda’s attorneys filed an appeal. They returned to the same question that had haunted this case from the moment the verdict was announced. A question that felt almost impossible for those who had lost a child to hear. Can a person be found guilty of murder without any proof that they even understood they were committing a crime? For the defense, this was the central argument for the Page family.
It meant that even after the trial, even after the conviction, the fight was not over. They had to wait again. They had to live with uncertainty again. And they had to watch as the case that had changed their lives forever returned to the court system. In February of 2025, a judge agreed that the question was serious enough to require further review.
While the appeal was being considered, Rhonda Juel was allowed to be released on bond. She walked out of prison. She had served less than 2 months. For the Page family, that moment was a separate kind of cruelty. They had a murder conviction. They had a 17-year sentence.
They had a court ruling that seemed to at least partly acknowledge the scale of what had happened to Arya. And yet Rhonda was now free. She walked the same streets. She breathed the same air. She could see people, speak with them, and returned to ordinary things that seemed routine to everyone else. While Arya could no longer breathe at all.
For Brook and Justice, this was not simply a legal process or another court procedure. It was a reminder that their daughter was not coming back. That no appeal, no bond, and no court ruling would ever change the day they lost her forever. 2 years had passed since that tragic day, July 19th, 2023. 2 years without Arya.
two years without her voice, her smile, or her small presence in their home. And Brooke Paige says plainly that the grief has not gotten any smaller. Definitely still the same pain as it was of July 19th of 2023. Um, 2 years or not, it’s still hard. But alongside that grief, something else began to grow in their lives.
something quiet, painful, but necessary if they were going to keep moving forward. After Arya, their home became completely different. Silence settled into the rooms that had once been filled with her laughter, her movements, and the small sounds of everyday life. And with each passing day, that silence felt heavier. Brooke and Justice wanted to become parents again. Not because anyone could ever replace Arya.
No one could ever take her place, but they wanted to feel life in their home again. They wanted a reason to wake up in the morning, to care for someone, to love, and to build a future that had seemed almost impossible after the tragedy. Brooke wrote on Facebook, “Everything has changed. People have changed. We have changed. Without you, my baby girl, we are not the same. I will fight for you every day.
” In another post, she spoke to her daughter even more openly. I love you more than anything, Arya. I miss you more and more everyday. Please bless us with another child, Arya. Please let us become parents again and feel love again. Without you, we are not the same. There was no forgetting in those words. There was the pain of a mother who had lost her child and was trying to find a way to keep living without betraying her memory. Arya remained part of every day, every thought, and every decision they made. And not long after, they received
the news they had been praying for. They were expecting a baby boy. Case Kel’s Page was born in July of 2024. His mother said he weighed 7 lb and was filled with pure joy and love. For Brooke and Justice, his arrival brought light into a home that had been immersed in grief for so long.
He gives them a reason to get up every morning, even on the days when memories of Arya become unbearably heavy again. Brook said that more than anything in the world, she wished her little son could meet his sister, see her, hear her voice, and feel her presence beside him. But that will never happen. And that realization does not go away. She lives with it every day.
Now at their home in Mlenny, there is a wind chime with Arya’s name on it. It is a quiet symbol that says everything without words. When the wind touches its small metal pieces and they begin to ring, the family hears something more than just a chime. To them, it is a reminder of Arya. She is still with them in the sound of the wind, in the silence of their home, and in the memories of those who loved her most.
That is how little Cass will grow up knowing that he had a sister. A sister who was loved beyond measure. A sister whose absence changed their family’s life forever. And that windchime became a daily reminder that Arya is still with them. Ronda Joelle was not a stranger. She was Arya’s grandmother’s best friend. She had known the family for years.
She was someone they trusted, someone they welcomed into their home and entrusted with what mattered most. She loved Arya like her own granddaughter. And yet, the 10-month-old girl never came home. If someone so close, so trusted, and so experienced in caring for children could make such a catastrophic mistake.
What does that say about the impossible position every parent is in? You choose someone you know, someone you love, someone you believe loves your child in return. You convince yourself that you did everything right, that your child is safe, that they will come home. And sometimes even that is not