Tichina Marshall

Introduction

Tichina Marshall is a 29-year-old former Wendy’s employee from Danville, Illinois, who pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder for stabbing a former co-worker in the head and face at the restaurant where they had both worked, and who was sentenced in September 2026 to 12 years in prison. Prosecutors said Marshall declared “I am going to kill you” immediately before the May 2025 attack, which was captured on the restaurant’s surveillance video, and that she had threatened to kill the same co-worker roughly a month earlier while they worked together. The case ended in a plea deal that dismissed an aggravated-battery count and avoided an October trial.

Background Information

Marshall worked at a Wendy’s restaurant in Danville, a city in east-central Illinois near the Indiana border. The sentencing was reported locally by WCIA and picked up nationally by outlets including People magazine and the NY Post. The restaurant where the attack took place has since closed. According to the Vermilion County State’s Attorney’s Office, about a month before the stabbing — while she and the victim were still working together at the restaurant — Marshall threatened to kill her co-worker; prosecutors did not give a motive for the later attack.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated by guilty plea. Marshall pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder under a plea agreement, so the account of the attack below reflects conduct she admitted and facts announced by the Vermilion County State’s Attorney’s Office as reported in fetched sources. A charge of aggravated battery was dismissed as part of the deal, and no motive was ever made public.

Police in Danville were called to the Wendy’s on May 26, 2025, for a report of a stabbing. Officers found the victim on the floor, “laying on the floor, bleeding uncontrollably and nearly unconscious,” with a stab wound to the head and a fractured skull, prosecutors said. Detectives later learned the victim had been chatting with the restaurant’s manager in an office when Marshall walked in holding a knife, told her “I am going to kill you,” and stabbed her at least two times in the face and once on the top of the head, leaving a deep head wound and a skull fracture. The attack was caught on surveillance video. Marshall was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery and faced up to 30 years in prison, and had been scheduled to stand trial in October. Instead, on September 24, 2026, she pleaded guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder in a deal that dropped the aggravated-battery charge, and Judge Karen Wall sentenced her the same day to 12 years in prison.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy said the 12-year sentence reflected “the violent nature of this attack and the devastating injuries suffered by the victim,” while stressing that no sentence “can undo the lasting effects” of what she called Marshall’s rampage. The sentencing was announced in a news release from the State’s Attorney’s Office and picked up the same week by national outlets including People and the NY Post, with coverage focusing on the recorded threat — “I am going to kill you” — and the surveillance video of the office attack. Authorities did not publicly detail the victim’s recovery, and no statement from the victim was reported in fetched sources.

Current Status

Marshall, now 29, is serving her sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Under Illinois law the sentence must be served at 85 percent, and the 477 days she spent in the Vermilion County Jail before sentencing will be deducted. When she is released she will serve three years of mandatory supervised release.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Marshall’s job at the Danville Wendy’s ended with the May 2025 attack, and the restaurant itself has since closed. At 29 she begins a 12-year felony sentence, with a conviction that will remain on her record for life. No public statement, apology or appeal from Marshall was reported in fetched sources at the time of sentencing.

Sources

*NY Post, “Crazed Wendy’s staffer learns fate for trying to stab co-worker to death”, 28 September 2026 — source
*People via Yahoo News, “Woman, 29, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Attempted Murder in ‘Violent’ Attack of Former Wendy’s Co-Worker”, 27 September 2026 — source
*Local 12 / WKRC (via WCIA), “Woman sentenced for attempted murder after brutally stabbing Wendy’s co-worker”, 27 September 2026 — source
*@nypost on X, “Crazed Wendy’s staffer stabbed co-worker in head while telling her, ‘I am going to kill you’”, 28 September 2026 — source