Teen girl fighting for her life after Molotov cocktail thrown into family's South Florida home
A teen girl is fighting for her life after her family says someone threw a Molotov cocktail inside their Southwest Miami-Dade home.
"I want justice, I want justice," said the teen's father, Raul Alvarez.
Wednesday night the teen was playing with her sisters, ages 2 and 3, in their house on SW 143 Place, near Kendall West, when a flaming mason jar filled with lighter fluid came flying through a window, according to the girl's uncle, who did not wish to be identified. The flaming jar hit the couch the teen was sitting on.
"I heard a big explosion. Then when I came into the room, my niece was on fire from the belly on down," he said.
The uncle said he and Alvarez rushed to help her.
"We grabbed her and we took her outside. We got the water hose and rinsed her down to, you know, cut the fire off. She was screaming for help. I tried to help her, everybody tried," he said, noting that he got a few burns in the process.
He said they rushed the teen girl to Baptist Health Homestead Hospital.
Due to the extent of her injuries, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue airlifted the teen to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital where she was listed in critical condition.
The teen's uncle said she underwent surgery on Wednesday morning. As for who is responsible, he said the family believes they know who did it.
"It was retaliation because of what he's involved with and what he's going to jail for," he said.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office's arson unit is conducting the investigation.
