A father’s anguish spilled out as he described the horrific night his 16-year-old daughter, Caeley Alvarez, was set ablaze by a Molotov cocktail that crashed through their family’s Southwest Miami-Dade home window last week.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News Miami, Raul Alvarez shared new photographs of his daughter for the first time, capturing the smiles she used to have, as she now clings to life in critical condition in the intensive care unit.
A father’s grief and a daughter’s fight
Alvarez said he cherishes the images of his daughter.
“It hurts a lot,” he said. “Every day it hurts a lot. She is in the intensive care unit and is in critical condition and I have heard her say some words. She has said to me that I just want them locked up, whoever did this to me. It pulls at my heart. It pulls me low down to the ground.”
He provided an update on her injuries: “Right now, I am worried about infections as she was burned all the way down to her feet and down her right leg.”
“She was burned over 55% of her body. We originally thought it was 80%. That is the update we have.”
“She is in a lot of pain right now. Imagine a little girl going through surgery after surgery. She is not doing too well. She was traumatized. She thinks she is still on fire.”
“She calls out to her mother and calls out to me, I am on fire and I tell her you are not on fire. I hate seeing my baby daughter like that.”
Alvarez said Caeley was disoriented but praised her medical team.
“They are working very hard for her,” he said. “They are working very hard.”
Caeley, a 9th grade student at Homestead High School, was rushed to Homestead Hospital last Tuesday night and then airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where she remains.
Her dad said she underwent her fourth surgery on Friday and faces a fifth on Monday, with a long recovery ahead.
A violent attack and an ongoing investigation
Investigators said the attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. last Tuesday when someone threw a flaming mason jar filled with lighter fluid through a window of the Alvarez family’s home.
Caeley was sitting on a couch, playing with her 2- and 3-year-old cousins, when the firebomb struck.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office arson unit is investigating, but a spokesman told CBS News Miami there is no new information to release.
“I talked to investigators from Miami-Dade and they told me they are working very hard and working nonstop on this case,” Alvarez said. “I hope somebody says something. I wish one of you guys would say something.”
CBS News Miami observed detectives going door-to-door the morning after the incident, seeking surveillance footage and witnesses. It’s unclear what they uncovered.
Authorities urge anyone with information to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS (8477).
Alvarez said he and Caeley’s mother have stayed by her bedside.
“My daughter is a very strong little girl,” he said. “I pray for her very much every night. I sit with her and wipe away her tears.” He noted the family is uncertain how much of her hospital expenses insurance will cover and has turned to a fundraising website to help with medical costs.
Caeley, who loves art and drawing, hopes to one day earn a scholarship to a college or university, her father said. He remains baffled by the attack. “I do not know why someone would have thrown a firebomb through the window of my home,” he said.
