Patricia Faye Williams (Greene County Jail).
A Missouri woman who pleaded guilty to committing arson with a bag of Takis tortilla chips will spend the next 12 years in prison.
Patricia Faye Williams, 43, initially pleaded not guilty when she was accused of first-degree arson for starting a fire at a Greene County residence in 2023. However, court documents show that she changed her plea to guilty during a court appearance. She was scheduled to begin her trial on Monday, Jan. 13.
On the afternoon of Aug. 11, 2023, a 911 call reported that a woman, later identified as Williams, had set fire to a home in Greene County. Springfield Fire Marshal Travis Morrissey’s probable cause statement details how a police officer, alerted by the smoke, arrived at the scene to find three individuals outside, including one in a wheelchair. One of the individuals, identified as Victim 3, accused Williams of starting the fire.
After being detained by the police, Williams was found with soot on her face and complained of smoke inhalation. She was then taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, where it was discovered that she had multiple outstanding warrants for her arrest. Consequently, she was promptly taken into custody.
When Morrissey arrived at the scene, he spoke to three people who were waiting outside, one of whom — Victim 1 — was a resident of the flame-engulfed house. Victims 2 and 3 were visitors, and both of them told Morrissey that they saw Williams “pour gasoline from a soda bottle onto clothes and the floor in the laundry room.” They also saw her “ignite Takis chips on fire” and then toss the flaming bag of chips onto the clothes soaked in gasoline.
Morrissey said that he conducted a brief field test to see if Takis chips could “support a flame,” which he said they could.
No one at the scene was hurt, and everyone inside the house was able to escape unharmed.
Upon smelling an “ignitable fluid” in the laundry room, Morrissey concluded that the fire was set intentionally with the fluid used as an accelerant.
While at the emergency room at the hospital, Williams was read her rights and questioned by Morrissey. According to his statement, she admitted to buying $2 worth of gasoline. She was also caught on a surveillance camera at the gas station making that purchase. Williams also stated that she used Takis chips to set the fire because “she knew they would support combustion because of their grease content.”
After Williams was taken into custody, she was held at the Greene County Jail without bond and deemed a danger to others.
On Tuesday, she changed her plea to guilty and received a sentence of 12 years in prison.
