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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake woman was charged Thursday with lighting her husband on fire and not allowing him to get help until he promised not to turn her in.
Cecilia Cuevas, 31, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated arson, a first-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.
On July 12, a fire was reported in a basement apartment near 1200 W. 1300 South where a couple and their two young children live. A woman who lives upstairs and rents the basement to the couple woke to the sound of a man screaming, according to charging documents.
"She saw burns on (the victim's) arms, legs and chest," the charges state.
Initially, the man claimed he had set himself on fire. But it was later revealed that Cuevas had doused her husband with lighter fluid and used a lighter to set him on fire, according to the charges.
Cuevas said "she was worried about (her husband) telling the police about what she did, and they did not seek medical attention until (he) said he would tell people it was a drunken accident," according to the charges.
By the time police arrived to investigate, the couple had gone to a hospital. But their two children, ages 1 and 2, were still in the basement, police say.
"The children were left unattended as the parents were at the hospital. The room was dirty and unsanitary. One child was wrapped in (a) feces-covered blanket," prosecutors noted in the charges.
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
