KCK stabbing victim waits for justice, attacker’s plea hearing approaches

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The scars are still visible on Stephanie Perez’s body, but she’s come a long way over the last 12 months.

“I don’t know if I will ever walk (alone) again. I don’t know if I will walk,” said the 47-year-old.

For months, she was plagued with nightmares of what happened on July 18th, 2023, but those are now few and far between. She still volunteers at the local food pantry at Immanuel Lutheran Church in the East Argentine neighborhood as well as The Hud, but she refuses to walk there alone, something she used to do for years. Instead, other volunteers now drive her back and forth on the days she works.

“It feels good to see her because before she was at home not wanting to go anywhere,” added Stephanie’s mom, Laura Villegas.

“She followed me everywhere for a while.”

The family now waits for Stephanie’s accused attacker to face justice. John Eugene McGriff, 33, is accused of attacking Stephanie from behind and cutting her face, neck, and hand with a six-inch knife. The reason for the attack remains unclear.

“There was so much blood that if they would’ve gone a little bit more she would’ve died. He just missed her by an inch the doctor told us,” said Villegas, whose daughter has had six surgeries since the attack along with weekly physical therapy appointments.

McGriff is charged with aggravated battery, aggravated assault, and mistreatment of a dependent adult in Stephanie’s attack. He’s also charged with second-degree murder in the death of his father, Samuel McGriff, which happened an hour or so before the attack on Stephanie, per court documents.

The case against him had been suspended since last August pending the outcome of a mental evaluation. In October, the court appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate McGriff at the State Security Hospital in Larned, Kansas. After that, he would be transferred back to Wyandotte County.

Then, in November, McGriff’s attorney entered a motion requesting a mental examination to “determine if, as a result of mental disease or defect, [McGriff] lacked the mental state required as an element of the offense charged.”

The case stayed quiet for about six months until May 2024 when McGriff’s attorney notified the court that he no longer wanted to rely on a lack of mental state defense, allowing the case to proceed as McGriff was found competent to stand trial.

Right now, McGriff has a plea hearing set for August 23, pushed back from a previous date of June 18th; Stephanie’s family remains optimistic about the outcome.

“Just keep him in there. Don’t let him out so he won’t ever hurt anyone again,” said Villegas.

McGriff remains in custody on a $300,000 bond. Court documents indicate he cannot pay that as he’s been unemployed since he was 18 years old and collects $934 a month through disability. It’s unclear what that disability is at this time.

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