July 25, 2025 • 31 mins
In the first episode of Weekly News, we will talk about the infuriating change of plea hearing that happened this week in the Madeline Soto murder case. We will also talk about the case involving 39 year old Jennifer Harris, who was murdered at a McDonald's on the outskirts of Detroit in Michigan, where she was a manager.
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Episode Transcript
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(01:16):
Hello everyone. Welcome back to The Victim's
Voice. I'm your host, Lorelai.
Today is the first episode of a new segment I'm starting.
It's going to include a couple of the top stories that have
been in the media lately. These episodes will drop on the
opposite Friday that my regular episodes drop, so there will now
be a new episode to listen to almost every Friday.
With that being said, let's jumpin.
(01:39):
Our first story is out of East Point, Michigan, which is just
12 miles from Detroit. On July 10th of 2025, shortly
after 8 AMA, single mom of six children, Jennifer Harris, was
working the morning shift as a manager at the local McDonald's
when someone wearing a mask and welding a knife came through the
employee entrance and stabbed Jennifer at least 15 times.
(02:02):
She succumbed to her injuries. A Good Samaritan who happened to
be in the drive through grabbingtheir morning coffee and Egg
Mcmuffin, saw the stabbing take place near the drive through
window. This person had their conceal
and carry and had a gun with himat the time.
They pulled it out and fired a shot into the air, hoping to
stop the assailant from continuing to stab Jennifer.
(02:25):
It seemed to work, as the persondropped the knife and ran
towards the car in an attempt toflee the scene.
The Good Samaritan, however, chased the person down and held
them at gunpoint until the police arrived.
The attack was captured on videoby McDonald's surveillance
cameras, and there were multiplewitnesses to the attack,
including other workers and customers.
(02:46):
Those people tried to help Jennifer after the person who
stabbed her ran, but as they already said, Jennifer didn't
make it. First of all, thank goodness for
this person who actually saw something and did something
instead of just driving off and minding their own business.
Had they done that, who knows what else this person would have
done or who else they might haveattacked. 39 year old Jennifer
(03:11):
Harris had worked at this McDonald's for 15 years at the
time of the attack. She had just recently become a
manager, which included managingthe employees and making sure
they did their job, which seems to be what led to this horrific
attack. So who was this person who came
in and attacked? Jennifer, who was just doing the
(03:31):
same thing that she did every morning, going to work and
making money to support her children.
That person was 26 year old Afini Muhammad.
She was an employee of the East Point McDonald's.
Apparently, for the last few days before the incident,
Jennifer had sent Afini home early for not doing her job.
(03:52):
Afini actually made an Instagrampost 2 days prior, on July 8th.
I'm going to play it for you now, and we'll also post it on
the victim's voice on Facebook. Here is what Afini had to say in
the video. I got sent home early yesterday.
(04:12):
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 in the store,
you know, disrespecting people, talking to them like everybody's
beneath her. She has no respect and it isn't
(04:33):
funny at all. Like seriously, man, I got shit
I got take care of and she keepssending me home early.
It's it's not funny. She's playing games and then all
day, throughout the day, she keeps saying a little racial
shit. And then throughout the day she
keeps on like putting negative energy in there, talking about
people, gossiping about people. It's not funny, man.
That shit gonna have to stop. She's a bully.
(04:54):
I'm telling you, she's a bully. She she brings a lot of negative
energy in there. She always panic when when
there's a lot going on. And then she tried to manipulate
that and make it seem like we ain't doing something right.
But we are working really hard and doing great.
It's just the fact that she panicked and I caught her a few
times making a mistake and she tried to hurry up and play it
off. You know, nobody's perfect.
(05:16):
It's fucking McDonald's. It happens.
You know what I mean? Like sometimes, like somebody
might get confused, so fuck, it gets busy.
Yeah, but she needs to stop playing like she like she don't
be making mistakes. I've been catching her.
I've been catching her. So her all the animosity and
shit and she keep putting in theair and stuff and then trying to
tell me I'm always snapping the people.
No that's false. No I don't snap on people.
(05:38):
I don't go in there doing that. I tell her no I make peace.
That's what I'm doing. I've been creating peace.
So with all that negative energythat she's bringing in there and
trying to manipulate it, no that's going to stop all that
negative shit she's saying aboutyou know her personal life, all
of that. No she's bringing all that in
there and then playing games saying she want to take her belt
off and beat somebody. Y'all act like my kids in there.
(05:59):
No we ain't your kids respect us.
Stop talking to us like that. That shit is crazy, I'm telling
you, but to get sent home 2 daysin 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.
Somebody allowed to do somethingabout that.
It's not funny, it's not fair, it isn't funny at all.
(06:22):
So you know, she could keep Ben and bully if she wants to, but
that shit is going to catch up with her because it ain't funny
at all. It ain't.
So according to Afini, Jennifer brought negative energy into the
workplace and had accused Afini of snapping on people, but she
would never do that. She makes peace.
(06:44):
I call bullshit on that one. Afini was mad that she had
gotten sent home from work two days in a row and then it
happened again on July 10th. So she thought the right thing
to do was to come back and kill the manager.
How is that making peace or having positive energy?
If you don't like the fact that you're getting sent home early
for not doing your job, then do your job.
(07:05):
Or if you feel that you are being bullied or targeted by
this manager, then you go up thechain to corporate and file a
grievance or maybe transfer to adifferent McDonald's, or hell,
even go find a new job altogether.
Anything but this. There's nothing that Jennifer
could have done or said to warrant being stabbed to death.
And from what people are saying that Nula Feeny and from some of
(07:27):
the post on her own Instagram, it did look and sound like she
was one of those kinds of peoplewho didn't like to work but
wanted the paycheck. If you want to check out her
Instagram, it's still up. It's called official Risen
Phoenix. People that worked at the
McDonald's said that Jennifer was a caring manager who treated
everyone who worked there like family.
(07:48):
She was a hard worker who was determined to work her way up to
provide for her children. As a single mother she cared
about people and according to her daughter, she was the best
mom that anyone could ever have and she would have given you the
last time she had or the shirt off of her back if you needed
it. This was the complete opposite
of how Afini had described her in her video.
(08:11):
Employees that have been workingthe morning shift of July 10th
said that Jennifer had sent Afini home because she wasn't
doing her job and it had caused the drive through to be backed
up. Other people who had worked with
Afini in prior years came forward and what they had to say
portrayed a person who seemed tothink that they were not only
entitled to whatever they wanted, but someone that also
(08:33):
had a past of violent behaviour.One person had worked with Afini
at Taco Bell in 2019, making herabout 19 or 20 years old at the
time. This witness said that Afini
would constantly pick on the manager regarding her schedule.
She would tell them that she wasworking a second job while also
pursuing a music career, so she needed certain days off or to be
(08:56):
switched after the schedule had already been made.
If she didn't get her way, she would be disrespectful to the
manager and basically bully them.
That's funny because we know Afini was calling Jennifer the
bully when it seemed like Afini just didn't want to listen to
someone who was an authoritativefigure.
(09:16):
This witness also said that while at work, Afini would hide
in unusual places, sing loudly at random times, and worked with
others in a passive aggressive manner.
During one incident, Afini pulled a knife on another
employee and pinned her against the wall in the freezer when
this employee wouldn't change shifts with her.
(09:36):
And then during another incident, Afini waited for an
employee outside next to his car.
When he came out, Afini reached under the car, grabbed him by
his ankles, shackled him, and threatened him at knife point to
stop bullying her. Human Resources was involved in
this incident, but if Feeney wasnot terminated from Taco Bell,
(09:58):
which makes me wonder what in the hell is wrong with Taco
Bell? A person who had dated A Feeney
also came forward. This person, who had dated her
from December of 22 until July of 23, said being with her was
horrible and that when he broke up with her, he had to move out
of his home for three months forhis own safety.
(10:19):
He stated that though what happened with Jennifer was a sad
turn of events, he can't say that he didn't see it coming.
And here's another shocker. Afeni had been charged in a
prior incident for stabbing someone.
Yes, you heard that right. This isn't the first time she
had been in trouble with the lawfor the same exact thing.
(10:40):
And March of 2022 in Virginia, aFeeny stabbed either an
ex-boyfriend or boyfriend. I couldn't find for certain
which it was, but she was charged with felony malicious
wounding. But then she took a plea deal so
it was reduced to unlawful injury or a stabbing without
malice. She was given a four year
suspended sentence and one year of probation.
(11:03):
Therefore, she avoided any jail time.
I'm really tired of hearing about these plea deals lately.
Had she not been given a plea deal and actually served the
four year sentence, then she would have still been in prison
and not working at McDonald's. Therefore Jennifer would still
be alive. There had been at least three
(11:24):
prior incidents with a Feeny threatening or stabbing someone
with a knife, but she was still free to continue stabbing people
until she finally killed someone.
It boils down to this girl shouldn't be within 10 miles of
any kind of sharp object. One other thing I want to
mention, but it's not a known fact, at least not yet, but I've
(11:47):
seen it in quite a few places. A Feeny was renting a room from
a 63 year old man named Ronald Wayne Fisher who is a registered
sex offender. Afeni had made a few tik toks
complaining about him and accusing him of forcing her to
show him her body and continuously asking her to have
sex with him. Apparently he has not been seen
(12:08):
for the last two or three weeks and people are saying that he's
missing. Like I said, this has not
BeenVerified for sure, but if I see anything else regarding this
Fisher guy I will let you know. Afeni was taken to the Macomb
County Jail where she was arraigned on July 11th on a
charge of homicide in the first degree which would carry a life
(12:29):
without parole sentence and a charge of carrying a dangerous
weapon with unlawful intent which is a felony carrying a
five year sentence. She pleaded not guilty and was
given a 25,000,000 cash only bond, which means Harass is
likely staying in jail until a trial or she gets sentenced.
Her case was set for a probable cause conference on July 23rd,
(12:53):
which is tomorrow, and a preliminary hearing on July
30th. The McDonald's reopened its
doors on July 13th and on July 14th they had a balloon release
for Jennifer. The owner of the McDonald's,
Yosef Alcudre, is covering the funeral expenses for Jennifer
Harris. There has also been a GoFundMe
(13:15):
set up called the Jennifer Harris Legacy Fund, which will
help support her six children's housing, education, food,
transportation, and personal development.
I will post the link to the GoFundMe on the Victim's Voice
Facebook page. Now on to our next story.
We're going to talk about the plea deal that Stephen Stearns
(13:35):
entered to into on Monday, July 21st.
And let me tell you, I'm pissed.38 year old Stephen Stearns was
arrested in February of 2024 after his girlfriend Jennifer
Soto's 13 year old daughter, Madeline Soto, went missing.
Stephen was reportedly the last person to see Maddie, claiming
(13:57):
that he had dropped her off up the road from her school because
she wanted to walk the rest of the way.
When Jen went to pick up Maddie,she discovered that she hadn't
been at school at all that day. She checked several places for
her daughter and by that evening, when no one was able to
find her, the police were called.
During the investigation, they seized Stephen Stern's phone,
(14:19):
which he had tried to factory reset two different times
before. They had confiscated it, but it
did not work and what they foundwas horrific.
Over 1500 photos and videos wereon his phone depicting the
sexual abuse that he had put Maddie through over the years,
going back as far as when she was 8 years old.
(14:41):
So for at least four to five years this monster was abusing
this little girl and keeping thecollection on his phone so he
could remember all the details. What a sick piece of shit.
Stephen was arrested at the end of February for what they found
on his phone and was charged with sixty, yes 60 counts of C
Sam or child sexual abuse material.
(15:04):
A few days after that, Maddie was found on the side of the
road under some bamboo trees 40 minutes from her home.
She had been strangled to death.In April of 2024, almost two
months after Maddie was found, agrand jury indicted Stephen
Stearns on 1st degree murder of Madeline Soto and the state was
(15:25):
seeking the death penalty. And there were more disturbing
details revealed in this case. When it came to Jen Soto,
Maddie's mom, people, including myself, believe she should have
been charged with something at least for child neglect or
endangering a child because whatshe allowed to happen was just
wrong and disgusting. See, Maddie had usually slept in
(15:48):
bed with her mom, but on the night that Maddie was murdered,
and many other nights for that matter, Jen wanted to get a good
night's sleep according to her own words.
And so she sent Maddie to go sleep in the guest bedroom with
Stephen. She just was giving him an open
invitation to do whatever the hell he wanted with her
daughter, which he did. People also wonder if Jen didn't
(16:12):
know what was going on and that maybe her and Stephen were
making money with the photos that he was caught with.
I mean he didn't have a job and she was only working a mere two
days a week, so where were they getting their money from?
None of this is fact, it's just pure speculation, but the fact
that she let them sleep togetheris enough for me to think that
there is seriously something wrong with that woman.
(16:36):
To this day Jan Soto has not been charged with anything and
in fact she has stayed quiet forthe most part since Stephen's
arrest. So for the last year and a half
Stephen was sticking with his not guilty plea and they were
moving towards 2 trials, one forthe sexual abuse material and
molestation and one for the murder.
(16:57):
The first was to take place thismonth and the murder trial was
to take place in September. The defense did file some
motions along the way, the biggest one being that they
wanted all of the evidence from Stephen's phone thrown out
because they said it was obtained illegally, but that
didn't happen. Then with jury selection set to
(17:18):
take place on July 22nd of 2025,news reports started reporting
that there was going to be a plea hearing on July 21st.
And there was. That was yesterday, the day
after, or the day before. I'm recording this episode and
let me tell you, I'm still livid.
(17:41):
So the plea agreement was for both trials.
It had to be in his eyes becauseif you pled guilty to the C Sam
charges, then that would be an aggravating factor for the
murder case and he would surely get the death penalty for that
one. The agreement was that if
Stephen took the plea, they would take the death penalty off
(18:01):
of the table. So I'm from what I gather they
reduced the 60 down to 20 charges of CCM material.
So he pleaded guilty to 20 of the CCM charges.
So then we get to the murder charge and this slimeball maggot
of a parasite decides instead ofpleading guilty he's going to
(18:25):
plead no contest? What the fuck.
For those of you who don't know what this means, a no contest
plea is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor
disputes a charge, serving as analternative to a pleading of
guilty or not guilty. A no contest plea means that the
defendant refuses to admit guiltbut accepts punishment as if
(18:48):
guilty. This is infuriating.
I don't understand why the prosecution would agree to this,
or the judge for that matter. They should have made him say
that he was guilty or no deal. He is the one who wants the
death penalty off of the table and the prosecution has all of
the leverage. He pleaded guilty to all of the
horrible things that he did to Maddie but still won't admit he
(19:12):
murdered her. Why is he going to try to still
blame Jen? Believe me, we will talk about
her also, and I do believe she should be charged with
something. But I believe Stephen, and
Stephen alone is the one who killed Maddie.
He threw her book bag in the dumpster, drove around with her
dead body strapped in the passenger seat of his car, then
(19:32):
later on put her in the trunk, and then later on that day he
dumped her body on the side of the road like a piece of trash.
Here's what I think. It all has to do with his
parents and their continuance ofsupporting him financially so
that he can have his books and his fucking root beer barrels.
He pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of Maddie because his
(19:53):
parents knew that was true. It was on his phone, there was
actual physical proof, and in the jail calls.
He never denied any of that, so it was no surprise to them that
he would say he was guilty. But with Maddie's murder.
If you have listened to the jailcalls between Stephen and his
parents, he has always told themthat he didn't kill Maddie but
(20:13):
walked in the room and found herdead.
When they would try to question him further on it though, he
would say that he couldn't say anything else.
So I think that he was afraid ifhe went to court and admitted
that he was guilty of killing her, his parents would be done
with him and he could kiss his books, sardines, saltines, spicy
peanuts and root beer barrels goodbye.
(20:37):
Or another theory is that maybe he doesn't want to admit that he
murdered her because it happenedduring his sexual abuse of
Maddie. We know that he abused her the
night that he killed her becauseof some of the pictures they
found on his phone showing the clothing that he had been
wearing that day. Maybe in his warped little mind
(20:57):
he was performing some asphyxiation act during the
abuse and it went too far so he doesn't feel like it was murder.
This man is just disgusting. With the no contest plea, he
still accepts punishment for thecrime.
So for counts one through 8, which was the sexual abuse on a
(21:18):
child under 12 years of age, he pled guilty and got life without
parole. For the sexual abuse on a child
between the ages of 12 through 18, he pled guilty and got life
without parole. These were for all of the things
that he did to Maddie from the time she was 8 until she was
(21:38):
murdered at age 13. For the lewd acts and
molestation, he pleaded guilty and also got life without
parole. And for Maddie's murder, the
coward pled no contest and got life without parole.
He got 21 life without parole sentences for each charge, but
all those sentences will run concurrently and at least we
(22:02):
know that Stephen Sterns, even though he didn't get the death
penalty, will die in prison. It was also stated in the plea
agreement that no other C Sam charges can be filed against
him. Remember they found a flash
drive on his parents property that had over 38,000 photos on
it involving C Sam so he will never be able to be charged for
(22:26):
that. There were several victim impact
statements given during the pleahearing which showed how loved
Maddie was, her maternal grandmother whom Maddie called
Mama, her aunts, cousins, familyfriends and the two room mates
that lived in the house with Maddie and her mom and Stephen.
All gave heart shattering statements describing the
amazing girl that Maddie was. How they still hear her laughter
(22:49):
at night when they try to sleep.How even though she was going
through hell in that house at the hands of that monster, she
was still happy and loved deeply.
They described how Maddie's lastday on earth was her 13th
birthday party they threw for her and how she had so much fun
and was so happy. A party that her mother did not
attend because she was supposedly working.
(23:11):
They described their relationships with her and how
their life had been affected because of her murder.
How they have trouble trusting people, sleeping at night and
just functioning in day-to-day life.
And believe me, none of them held back when it came to
telling Stephen what a disgusting person he was.
Names like maggot, parasite, depraved, and monster were just
(23:33):
some of the words used to describe him.
While he sat there looking straight ahead and emotionless,
one of the roommates talked about how she had also been a
victim of Stephen Stern's perverted and depraved acts.
He had taken pictures of her while she was nude, and she
didn't find out about it until the police found the pictures in
Stephen's phone. This man is a disgusting pervert
(23:56):
and it really bothers me that atone time he worked at Disney
around all of those children. Maddie's father, Tyler Wallace,
delivered a victim impact statement acknowledging that he
hadn't been in his daughter's life as much as he would have
liked because of finances, location and other matters, but
said that they were working on their relationship.
(24:17):
He said that Mattie had visited his home in October of 2023 and
he told her that when she was 13, she could decide which
parent she wanted to live with and he asked her if she would
like to come and live with him and his wife, Tatiana.
Mattie told him yes. He stated I was this close to
having my little girl. He then addressed Stephen
(24:39):
Stearns. You're depraved, you're weak,
and you're a coward. You're a sneak thief.
You crept into a family and tookadvantage of them and exploited
them. You could tell that Maddie had
so many people that loved her. I just wish you could have told
someone what was happening so they could have protected her
since her mom didn't, but she didn't feel like she could.
(25:00):
Stephen had been grooming her since she was at least 8 years
old and it could have been earlier since he started dating
Jen when Maddie was just six, sowho knows what threats he was
whispering in her ears all thoseyears.
And Speaking of the sorry excusefor a mother Jen Soto, guess who
didn't show up at the plea hearing?
(25:21):
This was her last chance to stand up for her daughter since
she had never stood up for her when she was alive.
But she failed Maddie once againand to me, her silence speaks
volumes. She knew what was going on in
that house for over 5 years right under her nose and chose
to do nothing. Why didn't she show up to court?
(25:41):
There are a lot of speculations.Some say that because everyone
is blaming her and saying that she had to know what was going
on for all that time, that she didn't want to face everyone and
get hated on, and that her family probably blames her too.
Or some people are saying that she participated in the abuse
and maybe even in the murder andshe knows that whatever she says
(26:02):
in a statement can be used against her in court.
Or maybe she was just scared they would arrest her if she
showed up, which in my opinion should have already happened and
hopefully someday it will. In my opinion, there is no
excuse not to be there for her daughter.
Jin Soto is a sorry excuse for her mother, a coward if you
will, just like Stephen Stearns.I mean, if she was really that
(26:25):
scared to face people, she couldhave written a statement and had
someone else read it, but she didn't even do that.
I believe wholeheartedly that Jen knew what Stephen was doing
to Maddie all of those years, and if she didn't participate,
she still did nothing to stop it.
Or did she blame Maddie for whatwas going on?
At one point, when Maddie had first gone missing, Jen had told
(26:47):
an investigator that she had worried that when Maddie turned
18, the situation with Stephen and Maddie was going to turn
into something like the Woody Allen situation who started
dating his girlfriend's young daughter.
Why would Jen think that? She had already have been seeing
signs of something going on, andmaybe in her sick and twisted
(27:08):
mind, she blamed her daughter, her little girl, instead of the
grown man who was grooming her. Or maybe she really didn't know
what was going on right under her nose because she was too
doped up on her medications thatshe seemed to be more worried
about than her daughter. Maybe she was sleeping the days
away while this disgusting maggot was doing whatever he
(27:29):
wanted with Maddie. All in all, she is just as sick
as Stephen and her ass belongs in jail along with him with a
charge for endangering a child because she allowed her daughter
to sleep with this predator. Then at the end of the hearing,
the judge asked this cockroach, Stephen Stearns, if he wanted to
(27:50):
speak, and of course he did. He wanted to get the last word
and what he said was absolutely disgusting.
And here it is. I agree, it's not fair that
Madeline is not here anymore. I have a hard time contemplating
a world where she's not around, a world that feels less vibrant
(28:10):
and less colorful than it did before.
I prayed to God countless times to trade places with her to take
me instead. Unfortunately, that's just not
how He works. I have nothing but sorrow for
her loss and I miss her all the time.
Her passing has torn me and my family apart as well.
(28:31):
She truly was a joy. I pray to God she is in heaven
and that he is taking care of her and that she gets to join
the choir because she had a beautiful voice.
I'll never not honor her memory and I apologize for all the
pain. What the fuck?
This being said by the man who was accused and now convicted of
(28:51):
raping, abusing and murdering Maddie.
How dare he. How dare he ride at what sounded
like his own victim impact statement?
Stephen Sterns. You were the one who molested,
who raped this little girl for years.
And not only that, you took photos and videos so that you
and your sick, twisted, dementedmind could go back and look at
them over and over again. You are the one who took her
(29:14):
vibrance, her color. You took her life and you have
the audacity to say it's not fair she isn't here anymore and
that you have sorrow for her loss and miss her.
Notice that he doesn't say her murder has torn me and my family
apart. Instead, he says her passing
like she died from natural causes or something.
(29:35):
And how dare he say that her passing has torn him and his
family apart as well. He is actually trying to put him
and his family in the same box as Maddie's family when he is
the one who murdered her, and totry to somehow blame it on God
saying that he would take her place.
But that's not how God works. God didn't take Maddie.
(29:57):
He did and he wouldn't take her place.
Hell, he wouldn't even accept the death penalty.
That's why he took a plea agreement.
If you're so willing to die fromMaddie, then accept your
punishment for what you did then.
To say he thinks about her everyday and will miss her all the
time after admitting to raping and molesting her for all those
(30:18):
years. Is that what he's missing when
he thinks about her? He's sick and at the end he just
says sorry for the pain. He can't even say sorry for the
pain that I caused. He's acting like he is just
another person who is mourning Maddie's death.
I can't deal with this piece of shit.
(30:39):
He needs to go away. They need to throw him under the
jail and be done with him. I wish in the plea agreement
that the prosecution would not only have made him plead guilty
to her murder but also have put one of the conditions to the
agreement was that he could never speak about Maddie or say
her name again. And now that he's over that the
(31:02):
court proceedings over. I hope he rots and everyone
forgets about his sick ass. I also hope that the family of
Madison so Madeline Soto can find some kind of closure now
that this is over and that Stephen is rotting in jail.
And I hope Maddie is finally at peace because she never was
during her short life on this earth.
(31:25):
For photos and articles pertaining to these stories,
check out The Victim's Voice on Facebook and come back next
Friday for a brand new case. Until then, peace out.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to The Victim's
Voice. I'm your host, Lorelai.
Today is the first episode of a new segment I'm starting.
It's going to include a couple of the top stories that have
been in the media lately. These episodes will drop on the
opposite Friday that my regular episodes drop, so there will now
be a new episode to listen to almost every Friday.
With that being said, let's jumpin.
(01:39):
Our first story is out of East Point, Michigan, which is just
12 miles from Detroit. On July 10th of 2025, shortly
after 8 AMA, single mom of six children, Jennifer Harris, was
working the morning shift as a manager at the local McDonald's
when someone wearing a mask and welding a knife came through the
employee entrance and stabbed Jennifer at least 15 times.
(02:02):
She succumbed to her injuries. A Good Samaritan who happened to
be in the drive through grabbingtheir morning coffee and Egg
Mcmuffin, saw the stabbing take place near the drive through
window. This person had their conceal
and carry and had a gun with himat the time.
They pulled it out and fired a shot into the air, hoping to
stop the assailant from continuing to stab Jennifer.
(02:25):
It seemed to work, as the persondropped the knife and ran
towards the car in an attempt toflee the scene.
The Good Samaritan, however, chased the person down and held
them at gunpoint until the police arrived.
The attack was captured on videoby McDonald's surveillance
cameras, and there were multiplewitnesses to the attack,
including other workers and customers.
(02:46):
Those people tried to help Jennifer after the person who
stabbed her ran, but as they already said, Jennifer didn't
make it. First of all, thank goodness for
this person who actually saw something and did something
instead of just driving off and minding their own business.
Had they done that, who knows what else this person would have
done or who else they might haveattacked. 39 year old Jennifer
(03:11):
Harris had worked at this McDonald's for 15 years at the
time of the attack. She had just recently become a
manager, which included managingthe employees and making sure
they did their job, which seems to be what led to this horrific
attack. So who was this person who came
in and attacked? Jennifer, who was just doing the
(03:31):
same thing that she did every morning, going to work and
making money to support her children.
That person was 26 year old Afini Muhammad.
She was an employee of the East Point McDonald's.
Apparently, for the last few days before the incident,
Jennifer had sent Afini home early for not doing her job.
(03:52):
Afini actually made an Instagrampost 2 days prior, on July 8th.
I'm going to play it for you now, and we'll also post it on
the victim's voice on Facebook. Here is what Afini had to say in
the video. I got sent home early yesterday.
(04:12):
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 in the store,
you know, disrespecting people, talking to them like everybody's
beneath her. She has no respect and it isn't
(04:33):
funny at all. Like seriously, man, I got shit
I got take care of and she keepssending me home early.
It's it's not funny. She's playing games and then all
day, throughout the day, she keeps saying a little racial
shit. And then throughout the day she
keeps on like putting negative energy in there, talking about
people, gossiping about people. It's not funny, man.
That shit gonna have to stop. She's a bully.
(04:54):
I'm telling you, she's a bully. She she brings a lot of negative
energy in there. She always panic when when
there's a lot going on. And then she tried to manipulate
that and make it seem like we ain't doing something right.
But we are working really hard and doing great.
It's just the fact that she panicked and I caught her a few
times making a mistake and she tried to hurry up and play it
off. You know, nobody's perfect.
(05:16):
It's fucking McDonald's. It happens.
You know what I mean? Like sometimes, like somebody
might get confused, so fuck, it gets busy.
Yeah, but she needs to stop playing like she like she don't
be making mistakes. I've been catching her.
I've been catching her. So her all the animosity and
shit and she keep putting in theair and stuff and then trying to
tell me I'm always snapping the people.
No that's false. No I don't snap on people.
(05:38):
I don't go in there doing that. I tell her no I make peace.
That's what I'm doing. I've been creating peace.
So with all that negative energythat she's bringing in there and
trying to manipulate it, no that's going to stop all that
negative shit she's saying aboutyou know her personal life, all
of that. No she's bringing all that in
there and then playing games saying she want to take her belt
off and beat somebody. Y'all act like my kids in there.
(05:59):
No we ain't your kids respect us.
Stop talking to us like that. That shit is crazy, I'm telling
you, but to get sent home 2 daysin 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.
Somebody allowed to do somethingabout that.
It's not funny, it's not fair, it isn't funny at all.
(06:22):
So you know, she could keep Ben and bully if she wants to, but
that shit is going to catch up with her because it ain't funny
at all. It ain't.
So according to Afini, Jennifer brought negative energy into the
workplace and had accused Afini of snapping on people, but she
would never do that. She makes peace.
(06:44):
I call bullshit on that one. Afini was mad that she had
gotten sent home from work two days in a row and then it
happened again on July 10th. So she thought the right thing
to do was to come back and kill the manager.
How is that making peace or having positive energy?
If you don't like the fact that you're getting sent home early
for not doing your job, then do your job.
(07:05):
Or if you feel that you are being bullied or targeted by
this manager, then you go up thechain to corporate and file a
grievance or maybe transfer to adifferent McDonald's, or hell,
even go find a new job altogether.
Anything but this. There's nothing that Jennifer
could have done or said to warrant being stabbed to death.
And from what people are saying that Nula Feeny and from some of
(07:27):
the post on her own Instagram, it did look and sound like she
was one of those kinds of peoplewho didn't like to work but
wanted the paycheck. If you want to check out her
Instagram, it's still up. It's called official Risen
Phoenix. People that worked at the
McDonald's said that Jennifer was a caring manager who treated
everyone who worked there like family.
(07:48):
She was a hard worker who was determined to work her way up to
provide for her children. As a single mother she cared
about people and according to her daughter, she was the best
mom that anyone could ever have and she would have given you the
last time she had or the shirt off of her back if you needed
it. This was the complete opposite
of how Afini had described her in her video.
(08:11):
Employees that have been workingthe morning shift of July 10th
said that Jennifer had sent Afini home because she wasn't
doing her job and it had caused the drive through to be backed
up. Other people who had worked with
Afini in prior years came forward and what they had to say
portrayed a person who seemed tothink that they were not only
entitled to whatever they wanted, but someone that also
(08:33):
had a past of violent behaviour.One person had worked with Afini
at Taco Bell in 2019, making herabout 19 or 20 years old at the
time. This witness said that Afini
would constantly pick on the manager regarding her schedule.
She would tell them that she wasworking a second job while also
pursuing a music career, so she needed certain days off or to be
(08:56):
switched after the schedule had already been made.
If she didn't get her way, she would be disrespectful to the
manager and basically bully them.
That's funny because we know Afini was calling Jennifer the
bully when it seemed like Afini just didn't want to listen to
someone who was an authoritativefigure.
(09:16):
This witness also said that while at work, Afini would hide
in unusual places, sing loudly at random times, and worked with
others in a passive aggressive manner.
During one incident, Afini pulled a knife on another
employee and pinned her against the wall in the freezer when
this employee wouldn't change shifts with her.
(09:36):
And then during another incident, Afini waited for an
employee outside next to his car.
When he came out, Afini reached under the car, grabbed him by
his ankles, shackled him, and threatened him at knife point to
stop bullying her. Human Resources was involved in
this incident, but if Feeney wasnot terminated from Taco Bell,
(09:58):
which makes me wonder what in the hell is wrong with Taco
Bell? A person who had dated A Feeney
also came forward. This person, who had dated her
from December of 22 until July of 23, said being with her was
horrible and that when he broke up with her, he had to move out
of his home for three months forhis own safety.
(10:19):
He stated that though what happened with Jennifer was a sad
turn of events, he can't say that he didn't see it coming.
And here's another shocker. Afeni had been charged in a
prior incident for stabbing someone.
Yes, you heard that right. This isn't the first time she
had been in trouble with the lawfor the same exact thing.
(10:40):
And March of 2022 in Virginia, aFeeny stabbed either an
ex-boyfriend or boyfriend. I couldn't find for certain
which it was, but she was charged with felony malicious
wounding. But then she took a plea deal so
it was reduced to unlawful injury or a stabbing without
malice. She was given a four year
suspended sentence and one year of probation.
(11:03):
Therefore, she avoided any jail time.
I'm really tired of hearing about these plea deals lately.
Had she not been given a plea deal and actually served the
four year sentence, then she would have still been in prison
and not working at McDonald's. Therefore Jennifer would still
be alive. There had been at least three
(11:24):
prior incidents with a Feeny threatening or stabbing someone
with a knife, but she was still free to continue stabbing people
until she finally killed someone.
It boils down to this girl shouldn't be within 10 miles of
any kind of sharp object. One other thing I want to
mention, but it's not a known fact, at least not yet, but I've
(11:47):
seen it in quite a few places. A Feeny was renting a room from
a 63 year old man named Ronald Wayne Fisher who is a registered
sex offender. Afeni had made a few tik toks
complaining about him and accusing him of forcing her to
show him her body and continuously asking her to have
sex with him. Apparently he has not been seen
(12:08):
for the last two or three weeks and people are saying that he's
missing. Like I said, this has not
BeenVerified for sure, but if I see anything else regarding this
Fisher guy I will let you know. Afeni was taken to the Macomb
County Jail where she was arraigned on July 11th on a
charge of homicide in the first degree which would carry a life
(12:29):
without parole sentence and a charge of carrying a dangerous
weapon with unlawful intent which is a felony carrying a
five year sentence. She pleaded not guilty and was
given a 25,000,000 cash only bond, which means Harass is
likely staying in jail until a trial or she gets sentenced.
Her case was set for a probable cause conference on July 23rd,
(12:53):
which is tomorrow, and a preliminary hearing on July
30th. The McDonald's reopened its
doors on July 13th and on July 14th they had a balloon release
for Jennifer. The owner of the McDonald's,
Yosef Alcudre, is covering the funeral expenses for Jennifer
Harris. There has also been a GoFundMe
(13:15):
set up called the Jennifer Harris Legacy Fund, which will
help support her six children's housing, education, food,
transportation, and personal development.
I will post the link to the GoFundMe on the Victim's Voice
Facebook page. Now on to our next story.
We're going to talk about the plea deal that Stephen Stearns
(13:35):
entered to into on Monday, July 21st.
And let me tell you, I'm pissed.38 year old Stephen Stearns was
arrested in February of 2024 after his girlfriend Jennifer
Soto's 13 year old daughter, Madeline Soto, went missing.
Stephen was reportedly the last person to see Maddie, claiming
(13:57):
that he had dropped her off up the road from her school because
she wanted to walk the rest of the way.
When Jen went to pick up Maddie,she discovered that she hadn't
been at school at all that day. She checked several places for
her daughter and by that evening, when no one was able to
find her, the police were called.
During the investigation, they seized Stephen Stern's phone,
(14:19):
which he had tried to factory reset two different times
before. They had confiscated it, but it
did not work and what they foundwas horrific.
Over 1500 photos and videos wereon his phone depicting the
sexual abuse that he had put Maddie through over the years,
going back as far as when she was 8 years old.
(14:41):
So for at least four to five years this monster was abusing
this little girl and keeping thecollection on his phone so he
could remember all the details. What a sick piece of shit.
Stephen was arrested at the end of February for what they found
on his phone and was charged with sixty, yes 60 counts of C
Sam or child sexual abuse material.
(15:04):
A few days after that, Maddie was found on the side of the
road under some bamboo trees 40 minutes from her home.
She had been strangled to death.In April of 2024, almost two
months after Maddie was found, agrand jury indicted Stephen
Stearns on 1st degree murder of Madeline Soto and the state was
(15:25):
seeking the death penalty. And there were more disturbing
details revealed in this case. When it came to Jen Soto,
Maddie's mom, people, including myself, believe she should have
been charged with something at least for child neglect or
endangering a child because whatshe allowed to happen was just
wrong and disgusting. See, Maddie had usually slept in
(15:48):
bed with her mom, but on the night that Maddie was murdered,
and many other nights for that matter, Jen wanted to get a good
night's sleep according to her own words.
And so she sent Maddie to go sleep in the guest bedroom with
Stephen. She just was giving him an open
invitation to do whatever the hell he wanted with her
daughter, which he did. People also wonder if Jen didn't
(16:12):
know what was going on and that maybe her and Stephen were
making money with the photos that he was caught with.
I mean he didn't have a job and she was only working a mere two
days a week, so where were they getting their money from?
None of this is fact, it's just pure speculation, but the fact
that she let them sleep togetheris enough for me to think that
there is seriously something wrong with that woman.
(16:36):
To this day Jan Soto has not been charged with anything and
in fact she has stayed quiet forthe most part since Stephen's
arrest. So for the last year and a half
Stephen was sticking with his not guilty plea and they were
moving towards 2 trials, one forthe sexual abuse material and
molestation and one for the murder.
(16:57):
The first was to take place thismonth and the murder trial was
to take place in September. The defense did file some
motions along the way, the biggest one being that they
wanted all of the evidence from Stephen's phone thrown out
because they said it was obtained illegally, but that
didn't happen. Then with jury selection set to
(17:18):
take place on July 22nd of 2025,news reports started reporting
that there was going to be a plea hearing on July 21st.
And there was. That was yesterday, the day
after, or the day before. I'm recording this episode and
let me tell you, I'm still livid.
(17:41):
So the plea agreement was for both trials.
It had to be in his eyes becauseif you pled guilty to the C Sam
charges, then that would be an aggravating factor for the
murder case and he would surely get the death penalty for that
one. The agreement was that if
Stephen took the plea, they would take the death penalty off
(18:01):
of the table. So I'm from what I gather they
reduced the 60 down to 20 charges of CCM material.
So he pleaded guilty to 20 of the CCM charges.
So then we get to the murder charge and this slimeball maggot
of a parasite decides instead ofpleading guilty he's going to
(18:25):
plead no contest? What the fuck.
For those of you who don't know what this means, a no contest
plea is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor
disputes a charge, serving as analternative to a pleading of
guilty or not guilty. A no contest plea means that the
defendant refuses to admit guiltbut accepts punishment as if
(18:48):
guilty. This is infuriating.
I don't understand why the prosecution would agree to this,
or the judge for that matter. They should have made him say
that he was guilty or no deal. He is the one who wants the
death penalty off of the table and the prosecution has all of
the leverage. He pleaded guilty to all of the
horrible things that he did to Maddie but still won't admit he
(19:12):
murdered her. Why is he going to try to still
blame Jen? Believe me, we will talk about
her also, and I do believe she should be charged with
something. But I believe Stephen, and
Stephen alone is the one who killed Maddie.
He threw her book bag in the dumpster, drove around with her
dead body strapped in the passenger seat of his car, then
(19:32):
later on put her in the trunk, and then later on that day he
dumped her body on the side of the road like a piece of trash.
Here's what I think. It all has to do with his
parents and their continuance ofsupporting him financially so
that he can have his books and his fucking root beer barrels.
He pleaded guilty to the sexual abuse of Maddie because his
(19:53):
parents knew that was true. It was on his phone, there was
actual physical proof, and in the jail calls.
He never denied any of that, so it was no surprise to them that
he would say he was guilty. But with Maddie's murder.
If you have listened to the jailcalls between Stephen and his
parents, he has always told themthat he didn't kill Maddie but
(20:13):
walked in the room and found herdead.
When they would try to question him further on it though, he
would say that he couldn't say anything else.
So I think that he was afraid ifhe went to court and admitted
that he was guilty of killing her, his parents would be done
with him and he could kiss his books, sardines, saltines, spicy
peanuts and root beer barrels goodbye.
(20:37):
Or another theory is that maybe he doesn't want to admit that he
murdered her because it happenedduring his sexual abuse of
Maddie. We know that he abused her the
night that he killed her becauseof some of the pictures they
found on his phone showing the clothing that he had been
wearing that day. Maybe in his warped little mind
(20:57):
he was performing some asphyxiation act during the
abuse and it went too far so he doesn't feel like it was murder.
This man is just disgusting. With the no contest plea, he
still accepts punishment for thecrime.
So for counts one through 8, which was the sexual abuse on a
(21:18):
child under 12 years of age, he pled guilty and got life without
parole. For the sexual abuse on a child
between the ages of 12 through 18, he pled guilty and got life
without parole. These were for all of the things
that he did to Maddie from the time she was 8 until she was
(21:38):
murdered at age 13. For the lewd acts and
molestation, he pleaded guilty and also got life without
parole. And for Maddie's murder, the
coward pled no contest and got life without parole.
He got 21 life without parole sentences for each charge, but
all those sentences will run concurrently and at least we
(22:02):
know that Stephen Sterns, even though he didn't get the death
penalty, will die in prison. It was also stated in the plea
agreement that no other C Sam charges can be filed against
him. Remember they found a flash
drive on his parents property that had over 38,000 photos on
it involving C Sam so he will never be able to be charged for
(22:26):
that. There were several victim impact
statements given during the pleahearing which showed how loved
Maddie was, her maternal grandmother whom Maddie called
Mama, her aunts, cousins, familyfriends and the two room mates
that lived in the house with Maddie and her mom and Stephen.
All gave heart shattering statements describing the
amazing girl that Maddie was. How they still hear her laughter
(22:49):
at night when they try to sleep.How even though she was going
through hell in that house at the hands of that monster, she
was still happy and loved deeply.
They described how Maddie's lastday on earth was her 13th
birthday party they threw for her and how she had so much fun
and was so happy. A party that her mother did not
attend because she was supposedly working.
(23:11):
They described their relationships with her and how
their life had been affected because of her murder.
How they have trouble trusting people, sleeping at night and
just functioning in day-to-day life.
And believe me, none of them held back when it came to
telling Stephen what a disgusting person he was.
Names like maggot, parasite, depraved, and monster were just
(23:33):
some of the words used to describe him.
While he sat there looking straight ahead and emotionless,
one of the roommates talked about how she had also been a
victim of Stephen Stern's perverted and depraved acts.
He had taken pictures of her while she was nude, and she
didn't find out about it until the police found the pictures in
Stephen's phone. This man is a disgusting pervert
(23:56):
and it really bothers me that atone time he worked at Disney
around all of those children. Maddie's father, Tyler Wallace,
delivered a victim impact statement acknowledging that he
hadn't been in his daughter's life as much as he would have
liked because of finances, location and other matters, but
said that they were working on their relationship.
(24:17):
He said that Mattie had visited his home in October of 2023 and
he told her that when she was 13, she could decide which
parent she wanted to live with and he asked her if she would
like to come and live with him and his wife, Tatiana.
Mattie told him yes. He stated I was this close to
having my little girl. He then addressed Stephen
(24:39):
Stearns. You're depraved, you're weak,
and you're a coward. You're a sneak thief.
You crept into a family and tookadvantage of them and exploited
them. You could tell that Maddie had
so many people that loved her. I just wish you could have told
someone what was happening so they could have protected her
since her mom didn't, but she didn't feel like she could.
(25:00):
Stephen had been grooming her since she was at least 8 years
old and it could have been earlier since he started dating
Jen when Maddie was just six, sowho knows what threats he was
whispering in her ears all thoseyears.
And Speaking of the sorry excusefor a mother Jen Soto, guess who
didn't show up at the plea hearing?
(25:21):
This was her last chance to stand up for her daughter since
she had never stood up for her when she was alive.
But she failed Maddie once againand to me, her silence speaks
volumes. She knew what was going on in
that house for over 5 years right under her nose and chose
to do nothing. Why didn't she show up to court?
(25:41):
There are a lot of speculations.Some say that because everyone
is blaming her and saying that she had to know what was going
on for all that time, that she didn't want to face everyone and
get hated on, and that her family probably blames her too.
Or some people are saying that she participated in the abuse
and maybe even in the murder andshe knows that whatever she says
(26:02):
in a statement can be used against her in court.
Or maybe she was just scared they would arrest her if she
showed up, which in my opinion should have already happened and
hopefully someday it will. In my opinion, there is no
excuse not to be there for her daughter.
Jin Soto is a sorry excuse for her mother, a coward if you
will, just like Stephen Stearns.I mean, if she was really that
(26:25):
scared to face people, she couldhave written a statement and had
someone else read it, but she didn't even do that.
I believe wholeheartedly that Jen knew what Stephen was doing
to Maddie all of those years, and if she didn't participate,
she still did nothing to stop it.
Or did she blame Maddie for whatwas going on?
At one point, when Maddie had first gone missing, Jen had told
(26:47):
an investigator that she had worried that when Maddie turned
18, the situation with Stephen and Maddie was going to turn
into something like the Woody Allen situation who started
dating his girlfriend's young daughter.
Why would Jen think that? She had already have been seeing
signs of something going on, andmaybe in her sick and twisted
(27:08):
mind, she blamed her daughter, her little girl, instead of the
grown man who was grooming her. Or maybe she really didn't know
what was going on right under her nose because she was too
doped up on her medications thatshe seemed to be more worried
about than her daughter. Maybe she was sleeping the days
away while this disgusting maggot was doing whatever he
(27:29):
wanted with Maddie. All in all, she is just as sick
as Stephen and her ass belongs in jail along with him with a
charge for endangering a child because she allowed her daughter
to sleep with this predator. Then at the end of the hearing,
the judge asked this cockroach, Stephen Stearns, if he wanted to
(27:50):
speak, and of course he did. He wanted to get the last word
and what he said was absolutely disgusting.
And here it is. I agree, it's not fair that
Madeline is not here anymore. I have a hard time contemplating
a world where she's not around, a world that feels less vibrant
(28:10):
and less colorful than it did before.
I prayed to God countless times to trade places with her to take
me instead. Unfortunately, that's just not
how He works. I have nothing but sorrow for
her loss and I miss her all the time.
Her passing has torn me and my family apart as well.
(28:31):
She truly was a joy. I pray to God she is in heaven
and that he is taking care of her and that she gets to join
the choir because she had a beautiful voice.
I'll never not honor her memory and I apologize for all the
pain. What the fuck?
This being said by the man who was accused and now convicted of
(28:51):
raping, abusing and murdering Maddie.
How dare he. How dare he ride at what sounded
like his own victim impact statement?
Stephen Sterns. You were the one who molested,
who raped this little girl for years.
And not only that, you took photos and videos so that you
and your sick, twisted, dementedmind could go back and look at
them over and over again. You are the one who took her
(29:14):
vibrance, her color. You took her life and you have
the audacity to say it's not fair she isn't here anymore and
that you have sorrow for her loss and miss her.
Notice that he doesn't say her murder has torn me and my family
apart. Instead, he says her passing
like she died from natural causes or something.
(29:35):
And how dare he say that her passing has torn him and his
family apart as well. He is actually trying to put him
and his family in the same box as Maddie's family when he is
the one who murdered her, and totry to somehow blame it on God
saying that he would take her place.
But that's not how God works. God didn't take Maddie.
(29:57):
He did and he wouldn't take her place.
Hell, he wouldn't even accept the death penalty.
That's why he took a plea agreement.
If you're so willing to die fromMaddie, then accept your
punishment for what you did then.
To say he thinks about her everyday and will miss her all the
time after admitting to raping and molesting her for all those
(30:18):
years. Is that what he's missing when
he thinks about her? He's sick and at the end he just
says sorry for the pain. He can't even say sorry for the
pain that I caused. He's acting like he is just
another person who is mourning Maddie's death.
I can't deal with this piece of shit.
(30:39):
He needs to go away. They need to throw him under the
jail and be done with him. I wish in the plea agreement
that the prosecution would not only have made him plead guilty
to her murder but also have put one of the conditions to the
agreement was that he could never speak about Maddie or say
her name again. And now that he's over that the
(31:02):
court proceedings over. I hope he rots and everyone
forgets about his sick ass. I also hope that the family of
Madison so Madeline Soto can find some kind of closure now
that this is over and that Stephen is rotting in jail.
And I hope Maddie is finally at peace because she never was
during her short life on this earth.
(31:25):
For photos and articles pertaining to these stories,
check out The Victim's Voice on Facebook and come back next
Friday for a brand new case. Until then, peace out.
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The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.