Florida woman admits trying to light her baby on fire at Upstate NY rest stop, report says

Lisbeth Collado, then 25, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was arrested in May 2022 and charged with attempting to set her 1-year-old baby girl on fire at a truck stop in Waterloo, N.Y. The baby's father, Jamie L. Avery, Jr., 28, was also charged. Photo: Seneca County Sheriff's Office

Tyre, N.Y. — A Florida woman has admitted trying to set her baby girl on fire last year at an Upstate New York truck stop.

Lisbeth Collado pleaded guilty to attempted assault Monday in Seneca County Court, the Finger Lakes Times reported — admitting she doused her 1-year-old daughter in lighter fluid and tried to set her on fire during a chaotic incident in May 2022 at Love’s truck stop in Tyre.

The plea satisfies the indictment lodged against Collado by a grand jury, which included charges of attempted murder and arson, the Finger Lakes Times said. She faces nine years in prison.

The child’s father, Jamie Avery Jr., was charged in the same incident. He pleaded guilty to attempted assault in December, but is now attempting to withdraw his plea, the Finger Lakes Times reported.

Jamie L. Avery, Jr., then 28, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was arrested in May 2022 and charged with attempting to set his 1-year-old baby girl on fire at a truck stop in Waterloo, N.Y. The baby's mother, Lisbeth Collado, then 25, was also charged. Photo: Seneca County Sheriff's Office

The baby and her 3-year-old brother — who was found injured in a tractor-trailer during the domestic call — were both expected to recover, the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office said. But investigators said a big question remains unanswered: Why did Collado and Avery try to set their baby on fire?

Here’s what happened in the May 3, 2022 incident, according to Seneca County deputies and Sheriff W. Timothy Luce:

Love’s employees called 911 around 5:30 a.m. after several fires were set inside the 1262 Route 414 truck stop.

Deputies rushed to the scene and took Avery, a truck driver, and his wife Collado into custody. Along with setting the building on fire, investigators determined the couple had doused their 1-year-old daughter with lighter fluid and tried to set her on fire.

The couple’s older child, a toddler boy, was found injured and locked in the cab of a tractor-trailer park in Love’s lot.

The baby girl was treated at Geneva General Hospital. Her brother, who appeared to have a head injury, was taken to Geneva hospital and later airlifted to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

Both children were expected to make full recoveries. They were placed in a “safe location” and given orders of protection.

Avery, then 28, and Collado, 25, were from West Palm Beach at the time of their arrest.

Collado is slated to be sentenced in court on May 10 to serve nine years in prison and five years on parole, the Finger Lakes Times reported. Avery, who is trying to withdraw his guilty plea, is scheduled to appear in court on March 24, the newspaper said.

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