2 Men Get Life In Prison For Killing Witness Day Before Scheduled Testimony
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) - Two men have received life prison sentences in the killing of a 28-year-old man scheduled to testify in a Detroit freeway shooting case.
Willie Wimberly, 32, and his 25-year-old cousin Lawrence Mathews were sentenced Wednesday in Washtenaw County after being convicted of multiple charges in the January 2013 killing of Brandon Charles.
Before hearing his fate, Wimberly said his trial had been unfair, the Ann Arbor News reported.
"I think the jury really didn't understand what was actually going on, but hey Mr. Wimberly looks like a bad person, hey, let's get rid of him," he said as he tossed a stack of papers in the air, despite his handcuffs, before apologizing.
Mathews, on the other hand, asked for forgiveness.
"You all need to know how much I tried to avoid the situation," he said. "When a coward like Wimberly is constantly pressuring and threatening you, it left me no choice just to be there."
Charles, of Ypsilanti Township, was one of two people wounded on Jan. 1, 2013 following a what authorities described as a "traffic confrontation" along westbound I-94 near Junction on Detroit's southwest side.
He was shot to death weeks later on Jan. 28, the day before he was slated to take the stand in the preliminary examination of Wimberly and another man charged in the shooting.
Wimberly received a sentence of life without parole for first-degree murder, life in prison for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, two years for felony firearm and 10 to 22 years for witness intimidation.
Mathews received a sentence of life in prison for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, two years in prison for felony firearm and 36 months to five years for carrying a concealed weapon.
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