Woman hospitalized with suspicious burns

Victim was covered in 2nd degree burns across 50 percent of body

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman is in critical condition Tuesday at UF Health in Gainesville after being badly burned and her family is trying to find out what happened.

According to the hospital 27-year-old Marilyn James arrived at the hospital and told the staff she caught fire after trying to start a grill, but health officials told police her burns weren't consistent with that story.

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James first arrived at UF Health in Jacksonville but was later transported to UF Health in Gainesville because they have a special burn unit there.

According to the police report, the hospital said she had second-degree burns on 50 percent of her body and her injuries are life-threatening.

"It's devastating. It's my child," Paula James, Marilyn James' mother, said. "She's on life support in critical condition, she don't open her eyes or anything. She's in a lot of pain."

Paula James is confused as to how her daughter ended up in a hospital bed, badly burned.

Marilyn James was rushed to the hospital last week after she said she tried to start a grill with lighter fluid. According to the police report, Marilyn James' girlfriend took her to the hospital after the incident happened.

That story matches up with what Marilyn James told hospital staff when she arrived, but according to a nurse at the hospital, that story doesn't add up, which is why the nurse contacted police.

In the incident report, the nurse said there were no clothing fibers in the burns and the clothing she wore to the hospital was in perfect shape.

"I said is there any way that the burn and her conditions, where she's burned, that this could have been her setting the grill on fire and it exploding on her?" Paula James asked. "And she gave me a look like, 'No, no way possible.' I said, 'So you think that somebody done it?' And she said, 'Oh yes.'"

Police decided to reach out to Marilyn James' girlfriend, and after getting the same story told to the hospital, police asked the girlfriend where Marilyn James lives and where the incident happened.

According to police, the girlfriend asked if they could call her back. When officers did, it went straight to voicemail.

JSO said that the girlfriend has not been identified as a suspect and has not been charged with anything but Paula James isn't convinced.

"Why is she hiding? Why isn't she with us when we're all up at the hospital just thinking about it, and trying to comfort each other? Why isn't she here if she loved her so much?" Paula James said.

According to the incident report, JSO is going to reach out to police officers in Gainesville to see if there needs to be more investigation.

For now, Marilyn James' family hopes her girlfriend talks with police about what happened.