Woman charged in hot oil assault

QUINCY — A Quincy woman is facing an assault charge for allegedly throwing a half a pot of hot oil onto a woman, causing burns to 20-30 percent of the victim’s body, over the weekend.

Grant County prosecutors charged Aldercy Brooks, 24, of Quincy, in Grant County Superior Court with first-degree assault (great bodily harm).

Ephrata police received the incident report about 7:30 p.m. Saturday night and responded to the scene in the 1200 block of A Street Southeast. When police arrived they were informed the female victim, who was in the shower and in a lot of pain, had a pan of hot oil thrown onto her by Brooks, according to court documents.

Brooks and her husband, who helped the victim by taking her to the shower after the incident, fled the scene before police arrived. Medics later responded to the location and transported the victim to Columbia Basin Hospital in Ephrata for treatment. The homeowner told police he was in his backyard with the victim and he watched as she opened the backdoor to the home and saw “something splash” onto the woman.

“(The witness) said after seeing the splash, he observed (the victim) slip and fall onto the ground of the kitchen floor,” wrote a officer.

Twenty to 30 percent of the victim’s body suffered burns and hospital staff informed police the burns are “likely to cause permanent disfigurement” to the woman’s hips, legs and abdomen. As a result of the depth of the burns CBH staff reported there was a high probability of the wounds becoming seriously infected.

The victim was sedated because of pain, but she reportedly told nursing staff “she knew” Brooks did it on purpose. Police learned Brooks’ husband dropped her off at her parent’s home in the 500 block of D Street Southeast in Quincy and she was taken into custody at the residence on Sunday. Police records do not provide a motive for Brooks’ alleged actions.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.