Tichina Marshall, 29, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for a brutal stabbing attack on her Wendy’s co-worker in Danville, Illinois.
Marshall pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder last Friday and received her sentence Thursday, a penalty that will keep her in the Illinois Department of Corrections for more than a decade before she faces three years of mandatory supervised release.
The attack unfolded in May last year at the now-closed Danville Wendy’s location, where Marshall worked alongside the victim. Prosecutors revealed that Marshall had “previously threatened to kill [her co-worker]” a full month before carrying out the assault, though no motive for the hatred was ever disclosed.
The victim was chatting with their manager when Marshall struck. Video captured the assault, showing Marshall stabbing her colleague “at least two times in the face and once on the top of the head,” according to the Vermilion County State Attorney.
The aftermath was gruesome. The victim was discovered “laying on the floor, bleeding uncontrollably and nearly unconscious,” prosecutors stated. She suffered a one-inch stab wound to the head and a fractured skull from the violent encounter.
Initially, Marshall was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery, carrying a potential sentence of up to 30 years. The aggravated battery charge was later dropped as part of a plea agreement that led to her guilty plea on the attempted murder count.
Vermilion County State Attorney Jacqueline Lacy addressed the sentence directly, stating that the 12-year term reflected “the violent nature of this attack and the devastating injuries suffered by the victim,” She added a sobering note about the limits of justice in such cases: no sentence “can undo the lasting effects” of Marshall’s rampage.
Marshall’s threats to her co-worker began weeks before the actual violence, establishing a pattern of intimidation that prosecutors were able to document. The warning signs culminated in the May assault that left the victim with permanent physical trauma.
The Wendy’s location where the attack occurred has since closed, though no direct connection between the stabbing and the restaurant’s shuttering has been established.
Marshall will serve her full prison term in the Illinois Department of Corrections system before beginning her mandatory supervised release period.