Yusniel Cue called the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office about his own children before any of this happened.
The call he made didn't save them.
That’s because his wife poured hot wax on their daughters' hands, set the kitchen on fire – and posted it to Instagram.
The Warning That Went Nowhere
Meliza Campos-Sanchez, 26, was arrested August 17 and charged with first-degree arson, child abuse, and two counts of child neglect after investigators say she intentionally set a fire inside her Miami home while her daughters – ages 6 and 3 – were inside.
According to arrest affidavits, Cue had been staying with his parents for about a week due to marital issues – and during that week, he contacted the sheriff's office because he had concerns about their children.
Nothing happened.
Campos-Sanchez had also previously attempted suicide – another documented red flag in her history.
Nobody intervened.
On August 16, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a kitchen fire investigators determined was intentionally set using an open flame, ignitable liquids, and combustible materials.
Investigators then discovered Campos-Sanchez had posted two videos to her own Instagram account.
In the first, she used lit candles to pour melted wax onto her leg and then onto the hands of her daughters.
In the second, wearing a silver mask, she sprayed rubbing alcohol onto clothing piled on the kitchen floor and lit it with a red lighter – all while dancing.
The six-year-old told investigators she and her little sister were in the laundry room when they watched their mother start the fire and throw a glass mug across the floor.
Then their mother brought both girls into the kitchen and poured hot wax from the candles onto them.
Cue only found out because one of his wife's friends called and told him to contact the police.
When he arrived, deputies were already there.
He took the girls.
Campos-Sanchez was transported to a hospital, sedated, and couldn't be interviewed.
A Father's Warning, A System's Silence
Campos-Sanchez now faces up to 30 years in prison on first-degree arson alone – a first-degree felony under Florida law that carries a $10,000 fine on top of that.
Florida's Criminal Punishment Code assigns arson a Level 7 severity ranking, meaning even first-time offenders typically go to state prison, not probation.
The child abuse and neglect charges stack on top of everything.
She's currently housed at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Institution.
But the arrest doesn't answer the question nobody in Miami-Dade is asking out loud: what exactly did the sheriff's office do after that father called in concerns about his children?
A prior suicide attempt plus an active warning call from the girls' own father is not a routine situation.
That's a household screaming for intervention.
In Florida, law enforcement is supposed to loop in the Department of Children and Families when a complaint involves child welfare.
So why were a six-year-old and a three-year-old left alone with a woman who had already flagged as a danger – long enough for videos of child abuse to land on Instagram?
Two little girls got hot wax poured on their hands because the people responsible for following up on exactly this kind of warning apparently didn't.
Florida has one of the most aggressive child protective frameworks in the country – and it still wasn't enough to prevent what happened on August 16.
Somebody in Miami-Dade needs to explain what happened to that phone call.
Sources:
- Angelique Brenes, "Florida Mom Arrested After Videos Show Her Pouring Hot Wax on Daughters and Setting Kitchen Fire: Police," People, August 18, 2026.
- NBC 6 South Florida, "Miami-Dade woman accused of pouring hot wax on daughter before setting kitchen fire," NBCMiami.com, August 18, 2026.
- Florida Legislature, "Florida Statute §806.01 – Arson," The 2025 Florida Statutes.
- FloridaCourtFile.com, "§ 806.01 Arson – Florida Statute," FloridaCourtFile.com, 2025.
