Law&Crime Sidebar - McDonald’s Worker Posted Furious Rant Before Killing Her Manager: Police

Episode Date: July 15, 2025

Just two days before allegedly stabbing her manager to death inside a Detroit McDonald’s, Afeni Muhammad, 26, posted a disturbing Instagram rant where she blasted her supervisor. Authorities say when that same manager, Jennifer Harris, sent her home again, she allegedly returned with a knife. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber analyzes her chilling posts with criminal defense attorney Eric Faddis.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents back for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Somebody going to have to do something about that. It's not funny. It's not fair. It isn't funny at all. So, you know, she could keep in a bully if she wants to, but that shit is going to catch up to her because it ain't funny at all. It ain't. Just 48 hours before allegedly stabbing her manager to death inside of a Detroit McDonald's, a feigning Muhammad posted that very angry Instagram rant. And now that video is at the center of a murder case that prosecutors say was premeditated and hauntingly foreshadowed.

Welcome to Sidebar. Presented by Law and Crime, I'm Jesse Weber. Okay, just two days before she allegedly stabbed her manager to death, of Faini Muhammad posted this furious Instagram video, seething about being sent home early for the second day in a row. I got sent home early yesterday. I got sent home early today by the same person. I'm telling you, she's a bully. This shit isn't funny.

She needs to understand that just because she's a mother and got children doesn't mean that she can come in this store, you know, disrespecting people talking to them like everybody's beneath her. You don't have to stop. She's a bully. I'm telling you, she's a bully. And that was followed by what could be perceived as a foreboding warning. She could keep being a bully if she wants to, but that shit is going to catch up to her.

Because it ain't funny at all. It ain't. Now, by Thursday, July 10th, 2025, those words became a horrifying reality because the 26-year-old is now accused of ambushing her manager, 39-year-old Jennifer Harris at the 9-mile Road McDonald's in Detroit, stabbing her up to 15 times with a kitchen knife in a brutal attack that prosecutors are saying is a premeditated murder. We're going to start from the top. We're going to take you through how all of this apparent violence unfolded.

This was just before 8 a.m. on July 10th, Jennifer Harris, this longtime manager at the East Point McDonald's, sent a Fannie Muhammad home early following this heated argument that detectives, say, was sparked by Baham and performing her work duties. Now, Muhammad did go home, but not before reportedly saying to Harris, I'll be back. And apparently, she wasn't lying because after being dismissed, police say they alleged that Muhammad drove to a nearby park, but instead of cooling off, she made a fateful decision. Allegedly retrieving a kitchen knife from her car, Muhammad returned to the quick service chain, but this time, prosecutors say she wore a hooded mask over her face to conceal her identity, slipped through the back employee entrance, and what happened next, according to prosecutors,

was nothing short of savage. Muhammad allegedly ambushed Harris, stabbing her repeatedly in a frenzied attack. Co-workers scrambled to help Harris, but the damage was too severe. She was rushed to a hospital, and sadly, she later succumbed to her injuries. Such a sad case, such a disturbing case, and this is one that we definitely wanted to shed light on and bring to you. And I will tell you, one of the reasons that we can do this is because of the amazing support that we get from our sponsors like Upside. Now, if you don't know what it is, Upsight is great. It is a free app that gets you cash back when you buy Daily Essential.

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Eric Fattis, criminal defense attorney, friend of the show. Eric, good to see you. Thanks so much for coming back here on Sidebar. Eric, you know, first of all, what is your reaction to this progression of events? I mean, it's not every day that you, you have an Instagram post that allegedly is foreseeing what is about to happen. Now, we'll talk more about the Instagram post, but this is, this is a savage attack.

And the government feels confident they know who did it. Just a horrific set of circumstances here. And really what the record kind of shows is a buildup, an escalation, things that are getting worse over time. This animosity is growing. And, you know, Muhammad didn't do herself any favors with that Instagram video and then later allegedly went into the store and just slaughtered Harris with a knife in the most brutal fashion. Do you see work-related killings often? I mean, I would talk about all the time about relationships and domestic violence.

But do you see a lot of work-related violent attacks, homicides often in your line of work? You know, Jesse, it's not terribly uncommon. You know, the work environment can be a stressful environment. Sometimes you're working with somebody who's not your best buddy. And, you know, over time, those tensions can build and become very problematic. People's livelihoods are on the line. It is, you know, really a high stress environment that can lead to these kinds of events. So now let's take a closer look at that pivotal piece of evidence in this case,

the Instagram video posted to a Fannie Muhammad's account just two days before the state. stabbing on July 8th. And in it, Muhammad appears visibly upset, venting about a workplace conflict. But to get stay home two days in a row man, and I came in on my off day to make up my time, and she still sends me home early? It's not funny. Now, Muhammad continues directly accusing her supervisor Harris of creating a toxic environment and retaliating against her. She brings a lot of negative energy in there. You know, nobody's perfect. It's $1.00s. It happens. You know what I mean? Like, Sometimes, like, somebody might get confused. So it gets busy, yeah.

But she needs to stop playing like she, like, she don't make mistakes. I'd be catching her. I'd be catching her. Now, the video ends with what might be proven to be chilling, foreshadowing of what was to come. Somebody's going to have to do something about that. It's not funny.

It's not fair. It isn't funny at all. So, you know, she could keep in a bully if she wants to, but that shit is going to catch up to her because it ain't funny at all. It ain't. Now, Eric, you know, I wonder if the defense is going to say, she was angry, she was venting on social media.

If she was really planning to kill her manager, why would she post something like this for the world to see? I mean, that doesn't seem too brilliant. Is that a possible defense argument? You know, sometimes criminals don't make the smartest choices. Especially with the emergence of social media and everyone kind of having us a quasi public life now who's on social media, These things come out and people don't really think much of it and don't think how it could impair parts of their life going forward.

And so, you know, she's on there venting, but clearly there is some hostility against terrorists that is coming through. And those haunting words, those are so ominous looking back at now what happened where she says she can keep being a bully if she wants to, but that's going to catch up with her. That the prosecution is going to say is premeditation. That's Exhibit 1. One thing we haven't talked about yet, and there's actually a lot we have to talk about, but one thing we haven't talked about yet is that amid the horror of what unfolded, there is an unexpected figure in this story who's being hailed a hero. You see, according to police, a customer who was waiting in the McDonald's drive-thru

heard this commotion inside, happened to be legally carrying a firearm. Acting quickly, he fired a warning shot, which caused Muhammad, or allegedly Muhammad, to drop the knife, flee the restaurant, the customer then followed her, held her apparently at gunpoint in the parking lot until police arrived, again, potentially preventing further bloodshed. Eric, if this is all true, my gosh, right? I mean, you have to wonder what could have escalated. Oh, gosh, you know, you have someone who is capable and willing to just go stab their manager

up to 15 times with a kitchen knife. What else is she capable of? You know, she was in an escalated state at that point, heightened emotions. who knows what else she would have done had she gotten away allegedly. And so, yes, this gentleman intervening, I think, could have really spared future bloodshed potentially. I'm Alice Levine. And I'm Matt Ford.

And we're the hosts of Wondry's podcast, British Scandal. Pray, good fellow. Please join us in our latest, most gripping series. What on earth are you doing? Well, speaking in Tudor English, you know, because we're doing Amber Lane. So I thought it would help people get in the mood and take them back to the course of King Henry VIII. Now, if I know British Scandal listeners

and I think I know British scandal listeners, they will be reeled in with talk of treachery, sexual jealousy, backstabbing and treason. There is a lot of that to be fair, but at its heart, isn't it just a traditional girl meets king, girl losers king kind of story? Yeah, with a divorce,

a nation-altering religious reformation, and the show trial to begin all show trials. So listen to the story of, Amblin now, follow British Scandal wherever you listen to podcasts and binge entire seasons early and ad-free on Wondry Plus. So then you go to Friday, July 11th, and Mohammed stood before Judge Kathleen Galen charged with first-degree murder and carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent. And during her arraignment, East Point Detective Brian Showers took the stand to read what's known as a, They swear to, which is our understanding this is a sworn statement outlining the facts that he believes established probable cause for a feigning Muhammad's arrest and justify the warrant that was issued against her. And he began by recounting a critical admission or alleged admission that Muhammad made following her arrest.

Prior to the stabbing, Muhammad was sent home by Harris for not performing her work duties and told Harris, I'll be back. Muhammad was arrested on scene and the knife was recovered. Muhammad admitted that she intended to kill Harris and stated that after she was sent home, she drove to a nearby park, decided to come back and stab Harris with a knife that she had inside of her vehicle. When Muhammad returned to stab Harris, she entered the back entrance with a hooded mask over her face in an attempt to conceal her identity and attempted to flee the scene after the stabbing, but was stopped by an armed customer. So after Detective Shower's testimony, the arraignment proceeded in typical fashion with both sides arguing over Bond. And Muhammad's defense attorney cited a history of trauma and abuse in asking the court to consider a reasonable bond.

She wasn't an extremely abusive relationship that was not only mental but physical that involved alcohol issues, which is where the habitual second stems from and her prior record. But at this time, Your Honor, we are asking the court to consider a bond in this manner that is appropriate that my client can meet so that. that she could meet with her attorneys and prepare her to defense in this manner. But prosecutors, they quickly push back, and they argued that the nature of the crime left no room for mitigation. She entered a public building with other individuals, other employees that were present. She produced a weapon that was a knife longer than three inches, and she staffed the victim multiple times, up to possibly as many as 15 times, eventually causing her death.

She then ran from the building to her vehicle, presumably with the intent to flee from the scene. She was stopped by a helpful bystander. Eric, how does it work in terms of bond? I mean, is it just looking at the horrific allegations and the nature of the crime? Or does a judge consider what are potentially mitigating factors at this point? So the judge has a lot to consider in deciding what the bond is going to be. The two primary factors are whether the defendant presents a danger to society and whether she presents a flight risk that she might leave the jurisdiction and never come back. However, the judge can surely consider the fact that the defendant is presumed innocent and under the Constitution is guaranteed a right to bail for most charges.

Here, the judge, in looking at it, essentially concluded that, hey, this person is dangerous. And in fact, there's allegedly a prior weapons issue in her background. And so the judge ultimately imposed a bond of $25 million cash assurity. No chance Mohammed is going to meet that. She will be in custody during the pendency of this first-degree murder case. Yeah, you're right, because then came an even more disturbing revelation. Prosecutors disclosed an open court that Muhammad had a previous incident involving a stabbing. And then finally, the defendant does have a prior instance of at least one that I'm aware that involved a stabbing,

similar, obviously, to the stabbing that occurred in this case involving a knife. So given all of those factors and given the fact that this court does have authority to give no bond to defendants charged murder, I am asking at this time for no bond in this case. Okay, so according to outlet Detroit News, Muhammad was convicted in Virginia in March of 2022 of one count of unlawful injury by stabbing, wounding, or cutting without malicious intent. And at that time, she received a suspended sentence per Detroit News of four years in prison and served one year of probation instead. Now, Eric, given what she is accused of doing here, hindsight's 2020, but do you question that sentence?

Do you, I mean, and also, how does that prior incident affect her current legal predicament? Sure. So the judge in the prior case, you know, of course didn't have a crystal ball. couldn't necessarily foresee Muhammad going in and stabbing up her coworker up to 15 times. That being said, it sort of shows a pattern of conduct that includes weapons, a specific weapon, a blade that Muhammad allegedly thrust into the body of Harris, her manager. And so that's an aggravating factor. Surely the prosecution is going to look at that and say, hey, even if there was some mitigation, even if there was some prior trauma, prior substance issues,

That is vastly outweighed by the danger that this person allegedly poses to the community. And I think the prosecution is going to take a real heavy-handed approach to this case. But at trial, can they introduce that prior conviction or is their prior bad act that wouldn't be allowed to be too prejudicial? You know, that would be ultimately up to the judge. The judge will have to weigh, hey, is this prior act relevant to some kind of trait or factor on behalf of the defense? like state of mind, like intent, like modus operandi, like, you know, the way in which she has committed crimes before. But my guess is the judge is going to say, hey, this prior stabbing that was unrelated in an entirely different state is just too overly prejudicial. The concern is

the jury would sort of hold that against her and find guilt on the new case because if she testifies, though, they can use it against her. If she testifies, it could surely come up. There is a reasonable likelihood that she could open the door through her testimony. You know, she gets up there and says, hey, look, I'm generally a peaceful person, whatever. The prosecution can say, hey, wait a sec, peaceful person. What about this prior weapons charge involving a knife from two to three years ago? So, yes, that could be a damning revelation at trial. You mentioned this before.

In the end, the judge in Detroit set Muhammad's bond at $25 million. There are strict conditions, GPS monitoring, a no-contact. order with the victim's family. That all makes sense. 25 million, though. Why not just issue no bond? I mean, it seems unlikely unless you're, I don't know, Jeff Bezos, then almost anyone could make a $25 million bond. Why even set a bomb that high and just say no bond? It's kind of going through the motions of issuing a bond without really issuing a bond. You know, when a judge issues no bond, some folks get up in arms, especially the defense

community saying, hey, the Constitution grants a right to reasonable bail. You're not even given this person is shot. So the judge sort of sidesteps that potential criticism by saying, no, I gave a bond, but it's $25 million. By the way, I'm not saying that the bond should be lowered. I mean, given what she is accused of doing, this is a heinous, heinous attack. I'm just wondering whether it should be no bond. Now, according to court records, talking about the legal case, Muhammad has a probable cause conference set for July 23rd, a preliminary examination on the 30th. What should we be looking out for there? So at those proceedings, the prosecution is really going to lay out their evidence that they believe shows probable cause that Muhammad committed this allegedly horrendous act, that they will likely call witnesses, including detectives, possibly even co-workers from the McDonald's, to discuss kind of the dispute that had been building and escalating.

in this case, the judge will determine whether there's probable cause to have the trial, or excuse me, to make sure the charge stands and have the case proceed to trial. Based on the report so far, it's looking pretty strong that there is probable cause here. It's a relatively low standard. Is there anything the defense can do to try to, I mean, it doesn't seem to me they can do anything to prevent this from going forward. The evidence feels quite substantial at this stage to proceed to trial. We can have a discussion about whether or not it's strong enough to prove beyond the reasonable doubt probably is.

But at this point, is there anything they can do to try to get this case stopped now or now? Stopped, probably not. Mitigated, possibly. You know, defense should really engage in a strong mitigation campaign that will likely involve a mental health examination. It'll likely involve interviewing people in Ms. Muhammad's life regarding past trauma, regarding substance issues, that kind of thing, to show a sort of a more holistic view of whom, Mohammed is and not just, you know, the sort of narrow snapshot we see from this allegedly heinous act. Is there room for a plea deal and what would a plea look like? I mean, in the sense, if we make the argument that the evidence against her is substantial, so whether, you know,

the witness testimony or her alleged statements, what have you, her Instagram video, what have you, the physical evidence, do, is there room to negotiate a plea and what would it look like given these allegations in this level of attack? So that's going to depend in part on the prosecutor and how the prosecutor sees the case. They're typically in charge of extending a plea offer or not. Like you mentioned, there's that aggravating factor of that prior instance regarding a knife and a different state. That's going to be a problem.

That being said, there's almost always some room to develop a mitigation packet on behalf of defense, submit it to the prosecutor and say, hey, instead of dragging, every everybody's families through the trauma and crucible of a trial. How about we agree on something slightly lesser than what she's facing and hopefully make it out of this with some sort of satisfactory resolution? We always talk so much about the defendant in these cases because of the legal consequences and the legal case, but let's just go back to the victim. So Harris's family is in mourning.

The McDonald's remains closed. A GoFundMe has been launched by Harris's family. to help support her children. And according to prosecutors, she was a mother of six. She had worked at that McDonald's for 15 years. And part of the GoFundee reads, Through this fund, Jennifer's legacy of strength, compassion, and dedication will continue

to guide and uplift her children. Resources from the trust will be used to support their educational journeys from early learning through higher education, as well as their overall well-being and personal development as they grow into adulthood. The Jennifer Harris Legacy Fund, is a reflection of her lifelong commitment to family, opportunity, and the belief in a bright

future. It ensures that her children are surrounded by the care, guidance, and support they need to thrive, and that her spirit will continue to shape their lives for years to come. You know, Eric, sometimes we get lost in the fact of the legal points and the legal case that you think about the family that's left behind in such a brutal attack. And for them to make sense of this, this in a way, it's a start of a whole new journey. They have to grapple with this loss, and now they have to go through the legal case, which can be quite difficult for them, particularly if the defense is going to be raising certain points of defense that obviously they may not agree with, and that might be difficult for them. What should they be thinking moving forward now?

Yeah, they are going to have a long road here. You know, I watched one of the interviews with one of the children, and she said, hey, my mom died providing for her kids going to work. every day, trying to make a better life for them. These victims' families are going to have some say in the legal process, they're going to have some input into whether there's a plea or not. Now, the defense has sort of cast Ms. Harris as a bully, and I think that there's probably going to be more of that. There's probably going to be more allegations that the alleged victim was a heavy-handed

boss and mistreated for employees, whether that's true or not. And so it's going to be painful and probably unsatisfying at the end. Nothing through the legal process will bring their mother back. Eric Fattis, thank you so much for taking the time. Difficult case, but always appreciate your insight. Thank you so much. Good to be with you, Jesse. All right, everybody.

That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.