Inset: Yashira Maldonado (Miami-Dade Corrections). Background: The 300 block of West 63rd Street in Hialeah, Fla., where Maldonado is accused of chaining her teenage daughter to a fence (Google Maps).
A 34-year-old Florida mother is accused of leaving her teenage daughter tied to a fence outdoors for roughly an hour in the sweltering Sunshine State heat, while allegedly silencing her phone so she would not be disturbed.
Yashira Maldonado has been charged with child abuse and child neglect. A probable cause arrest affidavit says Hialeah police were called to a disturbance around 10 a.m. Saturday in the 300 block of West 63rd Street. Officers arriving at the scene found the 13-year-old girl chained to a fence without food or water as she sat exposed to the hot Florida sun.
Investigators said surveillance video from a nearby resident showed Maldonado dropping off the girl about an hour earlier, wrapping a metal chain around her waist and securing it to a fence outside the home where the defendant’s mother and grandmother lived.
After allegedly restraining the teen, Maldonado texted her grandmother, “I got fired from my job!!!!” and told her the girl was outside, according to police. The grandmother then saw the child chained to the fence and attempted to release her, but was unable to do so.
The grandmother told authorities she hesitated to call police because she feared being evicted from the apartment. Officers arrived a short time later.
Maldonado’s mother also tried to contact her daughter, but was unable to reach her.
Police eventually freed the girl, who was not hurt, and took her mother into custody.
The defendant admitted to cops that she tied the girl up and said she did so for the girl’s “safety” and to prevent her from leaving, the affidavit stated. She said that she left behind a backpack with diapers and wipes.
She told police she turned her phone on silent after she left so she wouldn’t be bothered, per the affidavit. Maldonado went home to lie in bed and watch TV.
“The defendant stated she knows what she did looks bad and is wrong,” cops wrote.
But she said she was “overwhelmed” with taking care of the victim and needed a “break.”
Cops arrested Maldonado and took her to the Miami-Dade Jail, where she has since posted a $10,000 bond. She pleaded not guilty.
Her next court date is set for Sept. 9.
