3-year-old girl burnt alive in car - parents were fighting for custody

A man allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter to burn alive near a Queens park — strapped to her baby seat inside a chained-shut, gasoline-covered car that was set ablaze Sunday, police sources said, reports New York Post. The mother and her fiance had split up and were fighting for their daughter's custody.

On Sunday night, a 2008 Audi A6 exploded into flames near Baisley Pond Park in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens. Witnesses saw Pereira flee from the vehicle, fire crawling up the 39-year-old construction worker until he jumped into a nearby pond. He had reportedly informed that his kid was in the car.

Citing police sources, the New York Post has reported the girl was strapped into her car seat in the back. The rear doors had been chained shut from the inside to prevent anyone from getting inside. Gas was splashed in the interior, and a propane tank in the trunk fed the raging flames. The doors had been chained shut, but the heat from the flames was so intense, the metal melted enough for the rescuers to pull the little girl from the death trap, according to the New York Daily News.

When taken to the hospital, the child was pronounced dead. The mother alleges that, the father has told her that "You'll never see your daughter again." "I always thought he was going to hurt me," the mother told the Daily News. "I never thought he was going to hurt my daughter."