Woman accused of murder after tossing boiling water

By Cara McCoy

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 | 3:17 p.m.

• UPDATE: Attorney seeks competency hearing in scalding water death (9-3-2009)

A woman was arrested Tuesday after police allege she killed another woman by scalding her with a pot of boiling water.

Jackie Wilridge, 49, is being held without bail in the Clark County Detention Center. She has been charged with murder with use of a deadly weapon in connection with a July 3 incident at an apartment in the 2200 block of Concord Avenue, which is near the intersection of North Martin Luther King and West Lake Mead boulevards.

According to an arrest report, Wilridge and several others were smoking crack cocaine at a friend’s apartment. At about noon that day, Patricia James made known to the group that she possessed a large amount of money. At about 8 p.m., Wilridge and two other women attacked James and took between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash from her, the report says.

James remained in the apartment for several hours and argued with Wilridge about the incident, witnesses told police. After several hours of arguing, Wilridge boiled a pot of water and threw it on James, causing burns to about 15 percent of her body, the report said.

On July 5, James was taken to University Medical Center for her injuries. She died two days later. An autopsy revealed she died of scalding and her death was declared a homicide, the report says.

When police interviewed the woman who lives at the apartment, she told them she saw Wilridge throw the water onto James. She also told them she saw the skin on James’ arms fall off and knew James had been severely burned.

Several witnesses told police that after Wilridge threw the water, she left the apartment, according to the report.

Police interviewed Wilridge on July 24 with her attorney present. She told police she had been at her daughter’s house all weekend and denied being at the apartment the day James was burned.

Wilridge is scheduled to appear in court at 8 a.m. tomorrow.