Man Cleared Of 4 Detroit Murders Is Arrested In Arizona

DETROIT (AP) - A young Detroit man who was cleared of four murders after spending eight years in prison has been arrested in Arizona.

Authorities in Maricopa County, Arizona, say Davontae Sanford was charged Tuesday with aggravated assault and endangerment. But his attorney in Michigan, Bill Goodman, says the 25-year-old simply was shooting into dirt and toward mountains.

Goodman tells The Detroit News that the charges aren't justified. He says Sanford moved to the Phoenix area to get a fresh start.

In 2008, Sanford was 15 years old when he pleaded guilty to killing four people in Detroit. He says he felt desperate and poorly represented by his trial lawyer.

A hit man later said he had committed the killings, not Sanford. In 2016, Sanford was released from prison on other grounds. The state paid him $408,000.