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, originally pleaded not guilty when she was charged with first-degree arson after starting a fire at a Greene County residence in 2023. According to court documents, she changed her plea to guilty during an appearance on Tuesday. She had been set to go on trial on Monday, Jan. 13.
According to the probable cause statement written by Springfield Fire Marshal Travis Morrissey, a woman called 911 on the afternoon of Aug. 11, 2023 to report that another woman — later identified as Williams — had set fire to a home in Greene County. A police officer who had been investigating the smoke was nearby and arrived at the scene, where three people, including one in a wheelchair, were waiting outside. One person there, identified as Victim 3 in the statement, named Williams as the one who set the fire.
Williams was detained by police and observed to have soot on her face and “complaining of smoke inhalation.” She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, and in the meantime, it was discovered that there were several warrants out for her arrest. She was promptly arrested.
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.
