Wife Pleads Guilty in Poisoning Try

An East San Diego woman was sentenced to three years on probation Wednesday for sprinkling roach killer on her husband’s dinner, one week after she was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting him in a separate incident.

Kimberly Mayo, 29, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in a plea bargain stemming from the attempted poisoning of her 27-year-old husband, Edison.

Mayo told authorities that she attempted to poison her husband by sprinkling his macaroni and cheese dinner with an over-the-counter pest control product containing boric acid, but he did not eat his dinner. This attack was one in a long string of sometimes violent marital troubles.

In sentencing Mayo to the 10 days she has already spent in County Jail, Municipal Judge William Woodward abided by the plea bargain agreement.

Mayo also was ordered to seek psychological counseling and to avoid all contact with her husband.

Edison Mayo said his wife needs professional help.

“I feel that my wife has problems,” said the husband, who has custody of the couple’s two children. “I feel she has to resolve them. I know she needs help getting her anger out. . . . Every time she sees me, she attacks me.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Kerry Wells also said that a “substantial amount of counseling” would be needed to help Mayo’s “deep-seated emotional problems.”

Prosecutors are considering filing assault charges against Mayo for last week’s attack on her husband. Details about the attempted beating were unavailable.