Gang of five men 'kidnapped two women from their home, shoved them in a car trunk then murdered them'



Five men have been charged with murdering two women who they kidnapped and stuffed in a car trunk at gunpoint.



The men are being charged in the deaths of roommates Abreeya Brown, 18, and Ashley Conaway, 22, who were abducted from their Detroit home on February 28.

A week later their bodies were discovered in shallow graves in a wooded area not far from their Hamtramck home. The women, who had testified against two of the men about a separate shooting just three weeks earlier, had been bound and shot in the head.

Tortured: Abreeya Brown, left, and Ashley Conaway were kidnapped at gun-point, shoved into the trunk of a car, bound and shot in the head



Brandon Cain, 26, Miguel Rodriguez, 24, Reginald Brown, 24, Jeremy Brown, 19, and Brian Lee, 25, all of Detroit, are charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of torture and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.

Abreeya Brown's stepfather, Major Chapman, testified during a court hearing last month that Brown called him from the trunk of a car after she was kidnapped.

Charged: Brandon Cain is one of the five men charged with murdering the women, witnesses said that Cain was pursuing one of the victims romantically

Chapman said he was showering in the Hamtramck home he shared with the women when he heard someone 'ring the bell frantically.'

The 56-year-old said he rushed downstairs and opened the door to see Cain in the street with a gun, and another man dragging his stepdaughter.

Chapman said he traded gunshots with the men before they drove off.

Five minutes later, Brown called saying she and Conaway were in the car's trunk, Chapman said. She didn't say where they were going or who had taken them.

Authorities said Conaway may have been targeted for telling police Lee and Cain shot at her nearly three weeks before the abduction. Witnesses have said Cain had been pursuing Conaway romantically.



The two men face attempted murder charges in that case in Wayne County Circuit Court, where they are accused of shooting at Abreeya Brown and Conaway's car on Feb. 8.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the women's abduction and killing stemmed from the non-fatal shooting and serves as a reminder for the need to have more effective witness protection.

'This case represents many of our fears when it comes to vital witnesses in a case,' she said. 'These women were heroic. They refused to relent and let these defendants deter them from continuing on with their previous case, and they paid with their lives.'

Cain and Reginald Brown also are charged with felony firearm, and Cain is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in the slayings case.

If convicted as charged, the five men face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Reginald Brown and Jeremy Brown are cousins unrelated to Abreeya Brown, the prosecutor's office said. They are to be arraigned Saturday in Romulus District Court.