A Hialeah, Florida woman is behind bars after investigators say she restrained her own teenage daughter with a metal chain and left the girl exposed to extreme heat outside a relative’s residence.
According to the Hialeah Police Department, 34-year-old Yashira Marie Maldonado now faces charges of child abuse and child neglect following the disturbing incident involving her 13-year-old daughter.
Officers say the ordeal began Saturday morning when Maldonado brought her daughter to the home of the teen’s great-grandmother, arriving shortly before 10 a.m. Once there, authorities allege Maldonado looped a metal chain around the girl’s midsection and secured the opposite end to the property’s fence, effectively immobilizing her.
Investigators say the teenager was then left completely alone outdoors — with no shade to escape the sun, and without access to food or water. Before driving off, Maldonado allegedly left her daughter with only a clear backpack, a few articles of clothing, and her prescribed medication, police documents state.
The great-grandmother told authorities she received a text from Maldonado around 9:10 a.m. that simply read she had lost her job — sent not long before the child was allegedly left chained outside in the heat.
Maldonado has since posted bond and been released. A judge has issued an order barring her from any contact with her daughter while the case proceeds.