Davontae Sanford
Called it hit man pride or justice.
Whatever the case, a seasoned, imprisoned hit man is trying to clear the name of Davontae Sanford, who pleaded guilty to killing four people in Detroit in 2007. He was 14 at the time of the murders.
Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press reports that hit man Vincent Smothers simply says Sanford couldn't have shot and killed those people because he did it. Sanford's lawyers filed a motion today in Wayne County Circuit Court for a new trial.
The new lawyers for Sanford say he falsely confessed, and had shoddy legal counsel when he accepted a plea deal, the Freep reports. Sanford, 22, is serving 37-90 years in a state prison.
Schaefer wrote this on his Facebook page:
Interesting tidbit about this hit man. I asked one of his lawyers why Vincent Smothers wants to clear a man he doesn't know in a quadruple murder. The lawyer told me it's part redemption and part professional pride. The pride part comes from a police theory that Smothers and Davontae Sanford must have teamed up to execute the four victims. Smothers finds that offensive, the lawyer says. Smothers was meticulous, often scouting his targets for months, and it's ludicrous in his mind for anyone to think he'd team up with a 14-year-old who is blind in one eye.
