Life in prison ordered for fatal knife attack at Adrian Meijer store

ADRIAN — A man who stabbed to death another man as he was shopping at the Adrian Meijer store heard the anger of the victim’s family Friday before he was sentenced to life in prison.

Glen Harold Meyers was not “an 85-year-old man who was going to die next year,” Meyers’ grandson, Craig Frederick, told Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone. “He was building a driveway for my grandmother who had a broken back. He was out there digging holes the last time I left. I was dreading going home to visit because I knew he would work me for 12 hours straight and he would outwork me.”

Frederick said he had tried to call Meyers on Sept. 16, 2020, with a question about his home remodeling project he was working on, but his grandfather didn’t answer. He called his grandmother to find out where he was.

“I heard her voice and knew something bad had happened,” he said.

Alarik John Guajardo, 31, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder in May. He admitted to using a hunting knife to kill Meyers inside the Meijer store that day.

Frederick was telling the court that Meyers was at the store, getting groceries to help out his grandmother, when he asked Anzalone if he could look at Guajardo, who was seated to the right of the courtroom’s podium. She told him he could look at him, but he had to stay behind the podium.

“It’s really hard for me to stay behind the podium you fat f---,” Frederick said, turning toward Guajardo and pointing a finger at him. Guajardo didn’t react.

Anzalone warned Frederick to watch his language, suggesting he look at her.

More: Man fatally stabbed at Adrian Meijer; suspect stopped by woman with gun

More: Man pleads guilty but mentally ill to second-degree murder in 2020 knife attack

"…My grandfather was stabbed to death f------ several times, and what I feel like is you got what you wanted,” he said. “You wanted to go to jail because you were a loser, you were homeless. Hey, I have friends that have mental illness, but at the end of the day, this was planned out. You bought a knife in advance. You knew what you were doing. You looked for someone that wouldn’t fight back. When a lady pulled a gun on you, you knew enough to stop, and every day I wish she had pulled that f------ trigger, quite frankly.”

A life sentence without parole would bring satisfaction to his family, Frederick said.

“Nothing will bring my grandpa back,” he said. “What you have to endure — you got what you wanted. Congratulations. My grandpa had to go through that pain and suffering, and now our family does for the rest of our lives. I’m a Christian, but I’m not going to lie, … right now I have zero forgiveness. Our family would get such relief if you just got stabbed to death in prison, quite honestly, dude. I hope someday I can get over that."

He paused, looking down at the podium while holding it with both hands.

“Honestly,” he said quietly, “it’s taking everything to not go over there right now and beat the s--- out of you.”

Anzalone also heard from the woman who stopped the attack, holding Guajardo at gunpoint until police arrived.

Laurie Lewis said she encountered Guajardo twice that day in the store. The first time was when it was just the two of them in an aisle.

“I tried to smile at him, but he stared right through me,” she said.

“Moments later, I heard someone yelling for help,” she said. “I ran to see what was happening and I froze for a few seconds. I will live with those images embedded in my brain forever. There was nothing I could have done to save Mr. Meyers, but I was not going to let Mr. Guajardo hurt anyone else.”

She said she is dealing with the effects of the trauma. It was almost a year before she could enter Meijer, which had been her primary store, and she still hasn’t been back alone. Her husband would get home from work before her so she wouldn’t have to be home alone.

“I never leave home without my weapon,” she said.

She said she is disappointed that Meijer now has signs posted at the entrances saying firearms are not allowed, that Meijer never reached out to her to see if she’s OK, and that Guajardo could be paroled “in just a few years.”

“What he did is inexcusable,” Lewis said. “He murdered an innocent man and put a life sentence on not only Mr. Meyers’ family but on me and my family and everyone else that witnessed that day.”

Guajardo will be eligible for parole in 15 years.

Before the attack, Guajardo had been diagnosed bipolar in 2013 and later with schizophrenia, his attorney, Lenawee County Chief Public Defender John Glaser said. He stopped taking the medications that had been prescribed to him.

“He was hospitalized just shortly before this incident occurred,” Glaser said. “When I started representing him, he was almost zombie like. All he wanted to do was go to prison, plead guilty. He didn’t care anything about life or what was happening.”

Since he’s been in jail and taking his medication, “he is fairly normal,” Glaser said.

“Talking with him, I know he feels terrible what happened here,” Glaser said. “There’s nothing he can do about it. There’s nothing he can do to change it. He just wants the court and the family to know that he’s sorry about what happened.”

Guajardo declined to speak on his behalf.

“This is one of the more horrific events that have ever occurred in our community,” Anzalone said. “…It is more far-reaching than just the people here, although the family in this case has suffered the worst. Mr. Meyers doesn’t sound unlike my own father.”

Along with the life sentence in prison, Anzalone ordered Guajardo to pay $7,370.30 in restitution and $258 in court costs.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Life in prison ordered for fatal knife attack in Adrian