Meliza Campos-Sanchez, a mother accused of child abuse, made heart gestures to tearful relatives on Friday in a Miami-Dade County courtroom after a detective viewed her Instagram posts as evidence. — A 26-year-old mother recorded videos of herself setting a kitchen fire and pouring drops of hot wax from a lit candle on her 3-year-old and 6-year-old daughters’ hands, according to arrest reports in Miami-Dade County.
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On Friday, Meliza Campos-Sanchez made heart gestures to tearful relatives who were in the courtroom to support her after Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detectives viewed her Instagram posts as evidence of crimes.
One of the girls told a detective that “she and her sister were present and witnessed their mother burn a shirt. As a result, it started a fire while the victims were inside the residence,” a detective wrote, according to an arrest report.
Campos-Sanchez’s husband told deputies that he had been staying with his parents, and he took custody of their daughters while his wife, who had threatened self-harm, was at the hospital on Sunday, according to a deputy’s arrest report.
Deputies arrested Campos-Sanchez at 1:40 a.m. on Monday at the HCA Florida Kendall Hospital’s emergency room, and corrections booked her shortly after 4:45 a.m. on Monday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where she remained on Friday evening, records show.
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Campos-Sanchez, who was born in Cuba, faced four charges in two pending felony cases in Miami-Dade, and she had a hold by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to court and inmate records.
In the case of the pouring wax, Campos-Sanchez faced two counts of child neglect with no great bodily harm, and one count of child abuse with no great bodily harm.
In the case of the fire that prompted fire rescue personnel to respond to her home, Campos-Sanchez faced a charge of first-degree arson.
A judge ordered Campos-Sanchez to stay away from her daughters and to undergo two mental health evaluations. Court records show Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Carlos Humberto Gamez was set to preside over the cases. Her next hearing is at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
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