FeedsAlleged attackers headed to court
A courtroom at 18th District Court in Westland fell silent last Thursday as the victim of a random attack at the Westland Summer Festival took the stand.
In a tank top that lay bare the angry red scars of where an assailant’s knife pierced her skin, 19-year-old Jennifer Nagle of Taylor spoke haltingly during the preliminary hearing for her alleged attackers.
According to her testimony before Judge C. Charles Bokos, Nagle and her boyfriend visited the festival on July 4th to enjoy the fireworks. They didn’t catch the show, however, because as they wound their way through the mobbed grounds near the Bailey Recreation Center at about 10 p.m.—minutes before the display was scheduled to begin—Nagle accidentally ran into another visitor. Nagle said that the woman was irritated and became confrontational. The angry woman, later identified as 20-year-old Joleen Kay Krueger of Livonia, allegedly started a fight with Nagle that escalated from a verbal disagreement into a physical altercation.
As the fight raged, Nagle testified that a friend of Krueger’s, later identified as 17-year-old Nicole Leigh-Ann Harrington of Westland, had jumped into the fight wielding a knife.
“We were fighting on the ground and the next thing I knew I was stabbed three times,” said Nagle.
Less than five minutes after the incident began, she said that her two assailants “took off running” and she sought out the nearest police officer for assistance. At the time, she was bleeding heavily from a 3-inch cut on her back, a 7-inch cut to her head, and a cut about 8 inches long on her hand that Nagle said “nearly severed” her thumb.
She testified Thursday that she had never met either of the women charged in the attack before the incident.
Responses from the two women allegedly involved in the incidents varied greatly. The case against Harrington was the first to go before the judge, but she opted to waive the preliminary exam. That means that the case will be sent directly to Wayne County Circuit Court.
The $5,000 for her bond, which had been set at $50,000 or 10 percent by the court magistrate shortly after her arrest, was quickly posted and remains in effect.
Krueger, however, decided to move forward with the preliminary hearing, forcing the prosecuting attorney to prove probable cause.As witnesses painted a scene of seemingly gratuitous violence, the defendant earned a reprimand from Bokos for theatrical behavior including shaking her head and making faces at the testimony.
Later, Bokos refused a request from Krueger’s attorney to reduce the charges.
The defense also asked for a reduction in bond so that Krueger could go home to her 5-year-old daughter, but Bokos again denied their request. Instead, the judge opted to raise bond to $50,000 cash. He noted that additional information since the bond was originally set coupled with factors such as the major event it affected and the “serious lack of self-control” evidenced motivated his decision.
Both women will now face trial in Wayne County Circuit Court on charges of assault with intent less than murder, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison if convicted, and felonious assault, which is punishable by up to four years in jail.
