MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – One of the witnesses who saw an Eastpointe McDonald’s manager be stabbed to death said she was able to identify the attacker by her nails.
Afeni Badu Muhammad, 27, of Eastpointe, who was charged in connection with the death of 39-year-old Jennifer Harris, appeared in court on Nov. 14 for a preliminary hearing.
Recommended Videos
At a preliminary hearing, evidence is presented, and a district court judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence to bind the defendant over to circuit court for trial or to dismiss the charges.
Harris worked as a manager at the McDonald’s at 17921 9 Mile Road in Eastpointe. She was killed on July 10 after being involved in an argument with Muhammad, according to police.
Four witnesses and two police officers took the stand in the preliminary hearing on Friday and described their encounter with the attack.
One of the witnesses, a person who worked at the McDonald’s on the day of the stabbing, said she knew who the attacker was based on the suspect’s manicure.
‘You better watch your back’: Witness describes encounter
A former McDonald’s employee testified she was working at the Eastpointe McDonald’s when the attack happened. It was her second week working there.
She said she knew Muhammad as “Phoenix,” and only knew Muhammad by that name.
She recalled seeing an interaction between Harris and Muhammad. She described the conversation as quick, and Muhammad appeared irritated.
“So you clocked me out without telling me,” the witness remembered Muhammad telling Harris.
This witness recalled Muhammad saying, “You reap what you sow. I’ll be back. You better watch your back,” before leaving the restaurant.
She heard Muhammad was told to leave for the day because she was not doing her job properly.
The witness said she was working the cash register when she heard someone talking. She turned around and saw Muhammad.
She said Muhammad was wearing her work uniform but also a zip-up hoodie. She knew it was her because she said she noticed her nails. She testified that the nails resembled McFlurry cups with the red and yellow McDonald’s logo on them.
She recalled that she had complimented Muhammad’s nails before she left the morning of the attack.
When the knife was raised, she said she immediately noticed that the person holding the knife had the same unique nails as Muhammad’s.
She also testified she overheard another employee say, “Phoenix, stop,” during the stabbing.
The witnesses panicked, saying, “she’s stabbing her,” repeatedly and called 911 before leaving the restaurant.
This witness testified she didn’t really know Muhammad’s “government name,” but later stated she saw her real name pop up when they clocked in for work.
Background
The McDonald’s stabbing happened just before 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 10, 2025.
When officers arrived, they learned that Harris and Muhammad had gotten into an argument, which led to Harris sending her home early.
Muhammad told detectives that after being sent home, she drove to a park before she decided to go back to the Eastpointe McDonald’s and stab Harris with a knife that she had inside her car. The knife used was allegedly a kitchen knife longer than 3 inches.
When she returned to the McDonald’s, she went in through a back door with a “hooded mask over her face” in an attempt to conceal her identity, according to a swear-to from Eastpointe Detective Showers.
She is accused of stabbing her manager “as many as 15 times.”
“She produced a weapon that was a knife longer than 3 inches, and she stabbed the victim multiple times, up to possibly as many as 15 times, eventually causing her death,” assistant prosecutor Hengeveld said during Muhammad’s arraignment.
Read more: Prosecutor explains what happened during deadly stabbing inside Macomb County McDonald’s
A customer who was in the drive-thru line intervened and fired a shot to try to stop the attack.
The customer then held Muhammad at gunpoint until officers arrived, when she tried to flee. No one was struck by the bullet, according to police.
Muhammad later admitted to police that she had intended to kill her manager.
Just two days before the attack, Muhammad posted an Instagram rant about her job at McDonald’s.
Related: What Eastpointe McDonald’s worker said in Instagram rant 2 days before allegedly killing manager
Charges
Muhammad has been charged with first-degree murder, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent and being a habitual offender, second offense.
In this case, Muhammad was charged as a habitual offender due to another case that also involved a stabbing in 2022.
Court records show that on Jan. 11, 2022, an officer responded to a report of a stabbing in progress at an apartment building in Alexandria, Virginia, and found Muhammad at the scene.
The officer said that when he talked to Muhammad, she was crying and said, “I stabbed him. Is he OK?”
She was placed under arrest for felonious assault.
After that, Muhammad told the officer that she and her boyfriend got into an altercation after he learned that she was talking to a male friend that she’d just met about the issues they were having.
On March 14, 2022, a jury found that Muhammad “did unlawfully and feloniously stab, cut and wound” her then-boyfriend with “the intent to maim, disfigure, disable and kill.”
Muhammad pleaded guilty to the felony unlawful wounding charge on April 28, 2022.
As part of her guilty plea, Muhammad was given a suspended sentence of four years. That means she didn’t have to serve any time in prison, as long as she followed these conditions:
- Good behavior for four years after release from confinement
- One year of state-supervised probation, including substance abuse counseling and/or testing as prescribed by a probation officer
- Abiding by a protective order preventing contact with the victim
- Enrolling in and completing a batterer’s intervention program
- Payment of court costs
Bound over to higher court
Muhammad was bound over to circuit court on Friday, Nov. 14, after a preliminary hearing.
At a preliminary hearing, evidence is presented, and a district court judge will determine whether there’s enough evidence to bind the defendant over to circuit court for trial or to dismiss the charges.
The judge reviewed the evidence presented by prosecutors on Nov. 14 and found that there was enough evidence for Muhammad to face trial.
--> Eastpointe McDonald’s worker accused of stabbing manager to death bound over