Jim Schaefer

Detroit Free Press

Davontae Sanford, one day fresh from nearly nine years in prison, greeted a gathering of media and supporters today with a wide smile, saying he has a long road ahead of him, but the hard work is done.

He is free.

“It feels good,” said Sanford, now age 23, wearing a bright red shirt and standing with his hands stuffed in the pockets of white, knee-length shorts. “I know it’s going to take some time … but the hard part is over. The hardest part was getting me out of prison.”

Sanford appeared with his family, supporters and two pastors in the Total Life Christian Ministries Church on the east side of Detroit. Reporters were asked to keep a distance, as being out is enough of a shock, without adding on a crush of people asking how he feels.

Sanford said he ate Chinese food as his first big meal – sweet-and-sour chicken, fried rice and an egg roll – and now he knows he’s got a lot of work ahead of him. He said that while he was behind bars, supporters from all over sent him letters.

“They would all just tell me, Davontae, you’re getting out of prison. Stay strong!” he said. “Don’t prepare yourself for 39 years … prepare yourself to get out. Because you’re going to get out.”

Who really killed 4 people at a Detroit drug house?

Sanford walked free from state prison on Wednesday, one day after a judge vacated his convictions in the 2007 murders of four people in a Detroit drug house. From early on, supporters and lawyers proclaimed Sanford's innocence, even though he confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty. At the time, he was 14, and supporters say he told police whatever they wanted to hear so he could go back to his home.

Also from early on, confessed hitman Vincent Smothers claimed credit for the killings, providing police a confession shortly after his arrest in the weeks following Sanford’s guilty plea. Smothers later gave an affidavit attesting to his own guilt, and in 2015, gave an even more-detailed affidavit of how he and another man were responsible.

Today, Sanford's mother, Taminko Tilmon-Sanford, had to pause at times when speaking about having her son back home.

“I laid in the bed this morning crying, cause I still don’t believe he’s home,” she said. “I’m smothering him. He’s like, ‘Mama let my hand go.’ … If I could cut his food up and feed him, I would cut his food up and feed him.”

The Wayne County Prosecutor for years opposed efforts to free Sanford until recent weeks, when a new Michigan State Police investigation – requested by the prosecutor’s office – turned up additional evidence of Sanford’s innocence. A former Detroit police official admitted to state police that he had helped Sanford draw a rendition of the crime scene, which conflicted with testimony the official gave in court earlier when he said Sanford created the drawing on his own.

From the archives: Is teen taking fall for hit man's killing?

Prosecutor Kym Worthy dropped her opposition to vacating Sanford’s convictions, which helped lead to this week’s ruling.

Smothers and the other man still haven’t been charged, but Michigan State Police are still investigating. Worthy also is considering a request to charge the former police official, James Tolbert, with perjury.

In the meantime, Sanford says he’ll be trying to put his life together, after spending so much of his youth locked up, missing things like high school and the prom. His immediate thought is to try to help people in situations like his, or to be a motivational speaker.

“I’ll be good,” he told the audience.

His mother asked for prayers.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/06/09/prosecutor-defends-actions-davontae-sanford-case/85646230/

Contact Jim Schaefer: 313-223-4542 or jschaefer@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DetroitReporter.