Trayvon Martin and Davontae Sanford – A tale of two evils.

Trayvon Martin and Davontae Sanford - A tale of two evils. While Detroiters' response to the Travyon Martin verdict was understandably strong, an even greater evil where a young 14 year old kid was induced by a corrupt prosecutor to plead guilty to crimes he did not commit and then sentenced to a lengthy prison term of 35-50 years happened right here in DETROIT for which you should all be equally outraged. You have heard the news, heard the facts and know the case very well. I do not need to recount it all on this post. They key fact in his case, however, is that Vincent Smothers, the professed hitman for Detroit Police, later confessed to murdering four people on Runyon Street for which Mr. Sanford, a mentally disabled kid was wrongfully convicted. Why are so many Detroiters silent in the face of that injustice?

If your silence is because you are fed up with crime, the greater crime on your hands is your apparent willingness to let a 14 year old rot in prison despite his innocence. If your silence is because you are fed up with crime, the greater crime is knowing that the victims on Runyon Street did not get justice by sending an innocent 14 year old mentally disabled kid to prison for those crimes. Your silence is betrayal and will become karma.

Mr. Sanford lost his life, just like Trayvon Martin - a life where he should have been allowed to graduate from school, go to college and enjoy all the things every other innocent teenager his age has enjoyed. 

While Detroiters lifted their voices and raised their fists for Travyon Martin, a child of our own was also stolen from us by a system filled with caprice and malice. The least thing to do is call the Wayne County Prosecutor up and ask her to do what is morally right and set him free. I know I will.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has scheduled oral argument in the Davontae Sanford case for Tuesday, August 6, 2013 at 10 a.m. at the Cadillac Place Building on West Grand Boulevard. This is the case where 14 year old Davontae Sanford was induced to plead guilty to four murders for which professed hitman for Detroit Police Vincent Smothers later confessed. Kym Worthy refuses to set Davontae's conviction aside given the newly-discovered evidence of Smothers' admitted role in the murders - a tremendous injustice. After oral argument we will make a statement urging prosecutor Kym Worthy to do her job and confess error and set that kid free. While initially we intended to confront the prosecutor outside the appeals court to shout him down, we have opted for a more civil demonstration so as not to jeopardize Davontae's chances on appeal, which I believe are very good. But shame on the prosecutor for sucking up the blood of an innocent kid!

 

 

Roberto Guzman