A 19-year-old Taco Bell employee in Tennessee has been charged with aggravated assault after allegedly throwing a pot of boiling water onto a co-worker during an argument inside the restaurant.
Malayla Henderson was arrested July 19 following the disturbing incident at a Taco Bell on Knight Arnold Road in Memphis, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Officers were called to the restaurant shortly after 5 p.m. on July 18 after receiving a report involving an armed person. By the time police arrived, the injured employee had already been taken to a regional burn center for treatment.
The victim told investigators that Henderson poured boiling water onto his lap during an argument. Police said he suffered second-degree burns.
Investigators later reviewed surveillance footage from inside the Taco Bell and said the video appeared to show Henderson carrying out the attack.
According to police, the dispute began over an iPad.
The injured employee was not scheduled to work that day but had stopped by the restaurant while Henderson was on duty. Investigators said the two initially exchanged what appeared to be playful banter.
The victim claimed Henderson jokingly grabbed one of his extra T-shirts. In response, he picked up Henderson’s iPad, which had been sitting near a cash register, and placed it near a trash can inside the restaurant.
Police said Henderson became angry and allegedly warned the man that she would burn him with hot water.
Investigators claim she then walked into the kitchen, retrieved a pot of boiling water and poured it onto the victim while he was sitting in the restaurant’s lobby.
Henderson later offered a different version of the events during a phone interview with Memphis television station WMC.
She claimed the co-worker had been bothering her throughout the day, making inappropriate comments and repeatedly entering her personal space.
“He kept getting mad that day,” Henderson said. “He kept just saying a whole bunch of inappropriate things that I did not like. He kept coming into my personal space; I kept telling him, ‘Can you get back?’”
Henderson said the confrontation escalated after the man refused to give back her iPad.
She admitted pouring the water onto him but claimed she lost control after repeatedly demanding that he return the tablet.
“Before you know it, I had blanked out after asking him many times to give me my iPad, right?” Henderson told WMC. “Before you know it, once I blanked out, I was just pouring water on him.”
Court records show Henderson was released from jail July 22 after posting a $5,000 bond.
She is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 27.
Authorities have not publicly identified the injured employee. Taco Bell had not issued a public statement about the incident at the time of publication.
