A routine shopping trip at a Kids Foot Locker inside Southland Mall in Taylor, Michigan, erupted into shocking violence when a woman allegedly stabbed a 19-year-old after her card declined at checkout, police say.
According to Local 12, Suniya Jenkins had simply been walking through the mall last week when she noticed a commotion inside the store. Curious, she stepped inside — and immediately found herself pulled into a confrontation she insists had nothing to do with her.
Inside, 42-year-old Tiffany Rose Williams was reportedly furious after her card was declined. Someone in the store allegedly called her a “broke b***,” triggering a loud argument. Jenkins says she wasn’t the person who made the remark, yet Williams turned her anger toward her almost instantly.
“As soon as I walked in, she started yelling and screaming at me,” Jenkins said. “Then she reached into her purse and told me she was going to shoot me.”
Instead, police say Williams pulled out a kitchen knife — and stabbed Jenkins multiple times: twice in the neck, once in the stomach, and once in the thigh. Jenkins says she didn’t even realize she had been stabbed until the physical struggle was over.
Despite the trauma, Jenkins said she feels conflicted about pursuing charges.
“I am going to press charges, but it does sadden me because I don’t want her to be taken away from her children,” she said. “I truly don’t.”
Williams was arrested soon after the incident and is now facing several serious charges, including Assault with Intent to Murder, Felonious Assault, and Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm.
She has been arraigned and given a $250,000 bond.
When Public Outbursts Turn Dangerous
This case highlights an unsettling trend: public disputes escalating toward deadly force with little warning. A simple card decline — an embarrassing but common everyday moment — spiraled into life-threatening violence.
Retail workers and bystanders increasingly find themselves caught in the crossfire of strangers’ frustrations, often without any connection to the initial conflict.
It also raises a more human question: How does a mother of young children end up carrying a kitchen knife in her purse — and using it in a mall? For investigators, the incident underscores the growing unpredictability of interpersonal conflicts in public spaces and the emotional volatility that can accompany financial stress or embarrassment.
Jenkins, now recovering from her injuries, says she simply hopes to move forward — and wants people to know she was “just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Authorities continue to investigate.
