Judge orders release of man who confessed at 14 to killing 4

DETROIT -- A judge on Tuesday threw out the murder convictions of a young Detroit man who pleaded guilty to killing four people at 14, a case that has been in doubt for years after a professional hit man stepped forward and took responsibility for the slayings at a drug den.

Judge Brian Sullivan acted at the request of the Wayne County prosecutor's office and lawyers for Davontae Sanford, who's now 23.

Sanford is in a prison in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, but he'll now be released on bond and all charges will eventually be dropped, according to Sullivan's order.

Sanford was convicted for the 2007 fatal shootings of four people at a Detroit house. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder at age 15, but he's been trying to undo that plea for years, especially after hit man Vincent Smothers confessed.

Smothers, who is in prison after pleading guilty to eight other killings, insists Sanford had no role.

Sanford was 14 years old when he approached police at the scene and was arrested, reports CBS Detroit. He admitted to the crime and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but his family argued the Sanford is developmentally disabled and was coerced by authorities to confess under interrogation without a parent or attorney present.

Smothers last year signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the four murders.

"I have nothing to gain from testifying about my commission of the Runyon murders," said Smothers, who is serving 52 years in prison. "I only want to tell the truth in order to prevent an innocent kid from serving time for crimes that I committed."

The agreement signed by prosecutors makes no mention of Smothers. Instead, it says the state police found major problems in the work of a Detroit police official who investigated Sanford after the four homicides.