Prosecutor: Witnesses May Be In Danger In Hamtramck Murder Case
HAMTRAMCK (WWJ) - The prosecutor in the case of five men accused of kidnapping and murdering two Hamtramck girls believes witnesses could be in danger -- after the judge postponed a hearing that was set for Thursday.
Defense attorneys said they needed more time to prepare for the case, and Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Molly Kettler is not happy about it.
"All of our civilian witnesses are here, despite the fact that some of them have received threats, both on the phone and in person," Kettler said. "And I'm asking the court, once again, to admonish people who may be involved that they should not have contact with witnesses in the case."
The defendants are accused of abducting and murdering Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway to keep the two friends from testifying against two of them in an attempted murder case.
The judge postponed the preliminary hearing for one week, acknowledging that there are 20 DVDs the lawyers must review and at least 1,00o pages of discovery.
Close friends Brown, 18, and Conaway, 22, were allegedly forced into a car trunk at gunpoint on Feb. 28 after being abducted from their home on Andrus Street. Their bodies were found almost a month later in shallow graves in a wooded area near Six Mile and Telegraph in Detroit. The women had been bound and shot in the head.
The five men — 26-year-old Brandon Cain, 24-year-old Miguel Rodriguez, 24-year-old Reginald Brown, 19-year-old Jeremy Brown and 25-year-old Brian Lee — are each charged with two counts of premeditated first degree murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of torture and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.
Cain and Reginald Brown are also charged with one count each of felony firearm. Cain is additionally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
If convicted as charged, the five men face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
