Woman recounts baseball bat attack in MSU parking lot

Ryah Kelly said she was struck in the back of her head with a baseball bat three times "back to back to back" and sprayed with pepper spray after she was ambushed by five Detroit women in a parking lot at Spartan Village Apartments.

East Lansing District Court Judge Andrea Andrews Larkinon Thursday determined there was enough evidence for Paris Strickland and Brittani Barber-Gribble, both 19, to stand trial in Ingham County Circuit Court for their roles in the attack.

Kelly, a 19-year-old Michigan State University student, testified that she was caring for her then-5-month old baby at her apartment in Spartan Village in the early hours of March 6. She said an acquaintance called from a car and said a mutual friend was drunk and needed help.

The "ruse" to lure Kelly from her apartment continued when someone in the car pretended to be drunk in a FaceTime video call, witnesses said.

Kelly said she walked towards the acquaintance's car and noticed a woman hanging out of the left side. As she approached the car from the right side, she said, Chinonye Nwangwu, 18, exited the car and physically attacked her. Nwangwu is also charged in the assault.

"She ran around the car. I told her, 'Hold on. We don't have to do this right now. My baby is in the house,'" Kelly recalled. "That's when she hit me and that's when they all got out of the car."

The five women struck and kicked Kelly to the ground, she said. She tried to stand up.

"That's when I was struck in the head with a bat," she said. Kelly suffered multiple head injuries requiring eight staples to close the wounds, she said.

Michigan State University Police Detective James Terrill said he learned in interviews that the car, and pepper spray and bat in the car, belonged to Barber-Gribble. He said Barber-Gribble had a license restriction and asked Strickland to drive that night. He said Strickland admitted to spaying pepper spray during the attack.

Tierra Hubbard, 20, has admitted striking Kelly with the bat, Terrill said. Hubbard is also charged in the attack.

Strickland's attorney, John Frawley, said his client used pepper spray in an effort to break up the fight.

Witnesses said the women shattered a window and rear windshield of Kelly's Pontiac G6, then sprayed the back of the car with pepper spray. Her iPhone was stolen during the assault.

Barber-Gribble's attorney, Kareem Johnson, argued his client was not part of a scheme to ambush and assault Kelly. He said she only planned for her car to be used to attend a party that night.

"There's no testimony that she planned this attack and that she agreed ahead of time (to do it)," Johnson said. "She had no duty to say, 'Don't use my car for this.'"

Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Russel Church said Barber-Gribble was involved in the conspiracy because she was present throughout the process, then assaulted Kelly. Church said the only reason Kelly survived was she was able to break free after hearing her baby crying.

Barber-Gribble and Strickland are charged with aiding and abetting armed robbery, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, felonious assault and malicious destruction of personal property. Additionally, they face conspiracy charges on the latter three charges.

Barber-Gribble is free on a $100,000 bond. Strickland is being held in the Ingham County Jail because she was unable to post the same bond.

Madison Reed, 19, also face charges in the attack. Nwangwu, Hubbard and Reed are scheduled for a June 11 preliminary hearing, which will determine if there is enough evidence for them to stand trial.

Christopher Behnan is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at cbehnan@lsj.com.