LAS VEGAS – A 49-year-old woman was being held without bail Wednesday on accusations that she killed another woman by boiling a pot of water and pouring it onto her body at a Las Vegas apartment.
Jackie Wilridge was expected to make a court appearance Thursday after being arrested Tuesday on charges of killing Patricia James by scalding her with water July 3.
Wilridge's attorney, Donn Ianuzi, declined comment when reached by The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
A Las Vegas police detective said in a report obtained by the AP that James went to a hospital July 5 with burns to about 15 percent of her body. She died July 7 at a Las Vegas hospital, and the death was ruled a homicide.
Police said in the report that James and several others were smoking crack cocaine in an apartment north of downtown Las Vegas when James announced she had a large sum of cash. Witness accounts vary, but police said Wilridge and two others then attacked James and took between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash from her.
Police said James remained in the apartment and Wilridge allegedly poured the water on her a few hours later when they got in an argument. Wilridge then left, police said.
Some witnesses, including the apartment's tenant, told investigators that Wilridge said she intended to burn James with the water. The tenant, Charlotta Jackson, said she saw the water come to a boil over a stove, and watched Wilridge throw it onto James, according to the police report.
"Jackson saw the skin on James' arms fall off and knew she had been severely scalded," police said. "Wilridge then left the apartment."
Police said they interviewed Wilridge with Ianuzi present on July 24. Wilridge told investigators she was not at the apartment when the alleged incident occurred, police said.
Wilridge was being held at the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of murder with a deadly weapon.
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