Driver charged with murder in bar fight

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Grand Rapids woman has been charged with open murder and four counts of attempted murder in connection to an incident outside a downtown Grand Rapids bar early Friday, and a witness captured some of the scene on a cell phone.

A scuffle started early Friday morning in the VIP lounge at Tap's Sports Bar. People were thrown out of the bar and a larger fight began on the street.

April Lee Juarez, 22, allegedly drove a 1998 four-door Cadillac onto the sidewalk near Weston Street and Ionia Avenue early Friday morning and hit two people, then went around the corner and onto another sidewalk and hit more pedestrians before fleeing the scene.

Five people were injured, including 19-year-old Tifanee Crews. She was taken to a hospital where she later died. The other victims also were hospitalized but later treated and released.

Grand Rapids police arrested Juarez on Friday morning around 3:15 a.m. at a house in the 1000 block of Butterworth Street SW.

Tiara Mayfield couldn't believe her eyes Friday morning. She witnessed it all from her second story window at the Weston Apartments.

"It was people everywhere," Mayfield told 24 Hour New 8. "'Oh my God, somebody's under the car! Somebody's under the car!'" she recounted.

She taped a few moments of the scene on her cell phone. "She hit this tree, then she hit the fence, and there was a guy right there, he jumped out of the way," she said. "And then she came this way, and she was just tapping it then, and that's when she ran (Tifanee Crews) over. And she kept going."

Mayfield said the scene was "pandemonium. People everywhere, like the festival down here, this entire street was full of people."

Mayfield knew Crews, and said she still can't believe what unfolded outside her window. "She just drove off. No stopping. No looking back, no 'are you OK?' Just pulled off."

Crews' family was in court Monday, and told 24 Hour News 8 Tifanee was at a friend's house and was on her way to another friend's house when she stopped to watch the brawl. They said no matter what the outcome of this case, nothing will bring Tifanee back.

"No matter how long (Juarez) gets, she could get life in prison, and that's not going to bring my sister back," said Brandi Green. "I guess sometimes it's just not fair."

Juarez' attorney, Gerald Stahl, said she feared for her life after being involved in the Tap House fight. "While Ms. Juarez was punched, kicked and beaten, she obviously had some reason to fear for her life," he told 24 Hour News 8.

He also argued that Juarez has no prior convictions and has three children at home. But Judge Jeanine Laville denied bond.

In 2001, when she was 14, Juarez was charged with two counts of assault and battery. She received community probation inside her mother's home.

Juarez is facing life in prison. Her preliminary hearing is set for March 17.