DETROIT – Five people are facing the possibility of spending the rest of their lives behind bars after they kidnapped and beat someone they believed was involved in a carjacking.
A federal jury found 23-year-old Cortez Blake and 24-year-old Nasir Lewis guilty of kidnapping Monday, Aug. 12, after an eight-day trial. There are now five people convicted for their roles in the November 2021 incident. A sixth trial is pending.
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Background: 6 Detroit residents accused of kidnapping, beating woman they thought was involved in carjacking
According to authorities, Blake and Lewis worked with others to kidnap and beat their victim in retaliation for a carjacking they wrongly believed she was involved in. Officials said they offered the woman a ride home from Sinai Grace Hospital, but instead drove her to an empty lot against her will and beat her. The armed men then took her to Blake’s house, where she was held at gunpoint and beaten intermittently for several hours.
The group believed she was involved in the theft of Blake’s car, but police said she was not involved in the carjacking. The two people responsible -- Jamar Lee-Stinson and Amiaya Bryant -- pleaded guilty to carjacking and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence earlier this year.
An indictment claims the victim was punched, kicked and beaten with a bottle and hospital crutches. She was eventually abandoned on the side of the road miles away.
In addition to Blake and Lewis, three others have been convicted for their roles in the abduction. 24-year-old Maijah Greene pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, and 21-year-old Shatonnia Kimbrough and 22-year-old Armond Williams both pleaded guilty to kidnapping for their roles in the incident.
Semaj Ayers’ trial remains pending. Karamoh Turner was acquitted but still faces charges of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud.
All five convicted in the kidnapping face the possibility of life in prison.
Lee-Stinson and Bryant were both sentenced to about 10 years in prison for the carjacking that provoked the kidnapping.
