DAVONTAE SANFORD

Plenty of people participated in a gas giveaway Tuesday on Detroit’s east side, where over $25,000 was being poured into gas tanks for customers at a maximum of $40 at a time.

DETROIT -- Davontae Sanford says the people of Detroit had his back at a time when he needed them, so in turn he wanted to do something for those people. On Monday, Sanford gave away $25,000 worth of free gas to women and older men in the city as a way to say “thank you” according to the Associated Press. Sanford was released from prison in 2016 at the request of Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy after a hit man came forward and claimed he was the shooter, not Sanford. Although the hit man confessed, Worthy cited police misconduct as the reason she dropped the charges against Sanford, despite the teen’s prior confession. Sanford later said he only confessed to the murders because he felt helpless and was not properly represented by his lawyers.

The city of Detroit has reached a $7.5 million settlement with a man who spent eight years in prison before a prosecutor agreed to drop four murder convictions.

After spending nearly a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit, 23-year-old Davontae Sanford was freed Wednesday after a judge vacated his murder conviction. Michelle Miller reports.