Pride charged with murder, armed criminal action in stabbing death

By: 
Steve Chapman

James Pride

A Marionville man is being held at the Lawrence County Jail after he was arrested for allegedly murdering a woman. James J. Pride, 40, was booked into the jail on Monday, May 25, and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. He is accused of fatally stabbing Patricia L. Uranga, 53.
A c c o r d i n g to the probable cause statement, the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office received a call stating a woman had been stabbed inside her vehicle and was dead. LCSO deputy sheriffs arrived at the scene where they found Uranga’s body inside a black Toyota RAV4.
 The deputies spoke to a witness, who provided them with the following statement: “James Pride told me he stabbed Pat because she was evil. He (took) me to the car and showed me, and then I called the police.” According to the probable cause statement, the witness also said Pride told her that “he was going to cut her up and put her in a hole or pond.”
The deputies found Pride and took him to the sheriff’s office. In the probable cause statement, a detective with the LCSO reported that in a post-Miranda interview, Pride was asked if he had a cell phone, and he replied he left it in a car parked in the same location where Uranga’s body was found. The detective also reported a cell phone was found in the vehicle as Uranga’s body was being removed.
Pride is currently being held without bond. According to the criminal complaint against him, he is a prior and persistent offender. The complaint stated he was found guilty of possessing a controlled substance in Greene County on Sept. 16, 2016, and was also found guilty of second-degree burglary on Nov. 15, 2011 in Lawrence County.
Pride also has a conviction for misdemeanor assault from October of 2017. In that case, a relative reported that Pride had come home drunk and angry after finding out his probation from another case was being revoked and he was being sent to rehab. He later pleaded guilty to fourth-degree domestic assault, after which he was sentenced to 30 days in jail and released with credit for time served.
As of press time, Pride was being held without bond.

Category:

Lawrence County Record

312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

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