2 accused of shooting at slain Detroit women Abreeya Brown, Ashley Conaway in court

(CBS/WWJ) DETROIT - Two men who police suspect may have kidnapped and killed Detroit women Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway appeared in court Friday for a preliminary exam.

Bryant Lee, 24, and Brandon Cain, 26, are charged with attempted murder in a separate, earlier incident involving the women, whose bodies were found over the weekend gagged and bound with duct tape in a shallow grave.

According to CBS Detroit, a witness told the court on Friday that he saw Lee and Cain talking to the two victims on February 8.

Andre Todd-Douglas said Cain told the girls not to drive off or else Lee would shoot. He said the girls then started to pull away he heard gunshots.

Police believe that 20 days later, the men kidnapped - and later killed - Conaway, 21, and Brown, 18, after they threatened to tell police what happened, reports CBS Detroit.

Witnesses say the women were forced into a car on Feb. 28 outside their home in Hamtramck, an enclave surrounded by Detroit. Brown's stepfather says he exchanged gunfire with the two alleged kidnappers.

Cain and Lee are in custody but have not been charged in the women's disappearance or death.

Complete coverage of Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway on Crimesider