DETROIT – A Detroit man cleared of murder charges after spending years in prison has been arrested in an Arizona assault case, records show.
Davontae Deshawn Sanford was arrested in Maricopa County, Arizona, on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of endangerment, records show.
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Sanford was booked into the Maricopa County jail Tuesday, but is out on bond.
Murder charges dropped
The state of Michigan has agreed to pay $408,000 to Sanford after he spent eight years in prison for four homicides before prosecutors agreed to drop the conviction.
Records show Sanford is the latest person to qualify for compensation in a wrongful conviction.
Sanford was 15 years old when he pleaded guilty in 2008. But he said he felt desperate and poorly represented by his lawyer. A Detroit hit man later said he had committed the four killings, not Sanford.
In 2016, the Wayne County prosecutor said Sanford should be released from prison on other grounds.
Under a 2016 law, someone who is wrongly convicted can qualify for $50,000 for every year spent in prison. Separately, Sanford has a lawsuit pending in federal court against Detroit police.