Miami-Dade Mother Arrested After Videos Show Child Abuse, Kitchen Fire

Meliza Campos-Sanchez, 26, was arrested Monday after Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office detectives discovered Instagram posts documenting serious crimes against her young daughters. The videos showed Campos-Sanchez deliberately pouring hot candle wax onto the hands of her 3-year-old and 6-year-old children and intentionally setting a kitchen fire while the girls were present in the residence.

Authorities responded to a residential fire at Campos-Sanchez’s home on Sunday, and her daughters later provided statements confirming they witnessed their mother ignite a shirt that sparked the blaze. Her husband, who had been staying with his parents at the time, took custody of both children immediately following the incident and the mother’s subsequent hospitalization.

Detectives apprehended Campos-Sanchez at 1:40 a.m. Monday at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital’s emergency room. She was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center shortly after 4:45 a.m. the same day and remained in custody as of Friday evening.

Campos-Sanchez faces four felony charges across two separate cases: two counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, one count of child abuse without great bodily harm, and one count of first-degree arson. She also carries a hold from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; court records indicate she was born in Cuba. Circuit Judge Carlos Humberto Gamez ordered her to maintain no contact with her daughters and mandated two mental health evaluations.