The victim, who was not identified, sustained second-degree burns, according to the Memphis Police Department
Credit: Shelby County Sheriff’s Office
NEED TO KNOW
- Police say video footage shows Malayla Henderson throwing boiling water on a male co-worker
- The male employee was visiting the restaurant on his off day and claimed Henderson became upset after he moved her iPad
- Henderson was released on bond and allegedly said she “blanked out” after repeatedly asking for her iPad back
A 19-year-old Taco Bell employee in Tennessee was arrested after she allegedly threw boiling water at a co-worker.
Malayla Henderson was arrested on an aggravated assault charge on Sunday, July 19, according to Shelby County Criminal Justice System records reviewed by PEOPLE and the Memphis Police Department.
The Memphis Police Department responded to an armed person call at a Taco Bell in Memphis shortly after 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 18, according to a press release shared with PEOPLE.
Upon their arrival, officers were told that a male employee had been transported to a burn center.
Credit: Kevin Carter/Getty
After officers spoke with the man at the hospital, he alleged that Henderson had thrown a pot of boiling water onto his lap.
Police said they reviewed video footage showing Henderson throwing the pot of boiling water at the male employee.
Officers were advised that the man sustained second-degree burns following the alleged incident, according to the press release.
The male employee, who was not scheduled to work that day, was “visiting the business,” while Henderson was on the clock, the press release states.
Henderson told WMC that he had been at the restaurant since early that morning.
“He kept getting mad that day… 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 alleged in a phone interview with the outlet.
Credit: Shelby County Sheriff’s Office
Police said that Henderson and the male employee, who was not identified, were engaged in “playful banter” before the alleged incident took place.
The man claimed while speaking to police that Henderson “playfully snatched away a second T-shirt that he was carrying,” which caused him to respond by “grabbing Henderson’s iPad, which was located near a cash register.”
“The victim then proceeded to place the iPad near a trash can inside of the business,” said the Memphis Police Department. “Henderson became upset with the victim and told him that she was going to burn him with hot water.”
Henderson is accused of then retrieving a pot of boiling water from the kitchen and threw it at the male employee as he sat in the restaurant lobby, according to the press release.
Henderson said the last straw was when he took her iPad.
“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.”
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Henderson was released from jail on Wednesday, July 22, after posting a $5,000 bond, and has her next court date scheduled for Aug. 27, according to court records reviewed by PEOPLE.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office and Taco Bell for comment and additional information.
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