Davontae Sanford recovering from weekend shooting

(WJBK) - He was wrongly-convicted of murder as a teenager and spent more than nine years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.

Now Davontae Sanford the latest victim of gun violence in Detroit. Just one year ago, Sanford was released from prison where he was incarcerated for the murders of four people - crimes he did not commit.

Sanford was shot near his apartment in the Martin Luther King Apartments Saturday night.

"He's traumatized and scared," said his attorney Julie Hurwitz. "He's walking around right now with a bullet in his leg that needs to be removed and he's dealing with the pain - the physical pain."

Sanford's attorneys Hurwitz and Bill Goodman say at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, he was returning home from visiting his mother. He has yet to receive any compensation for his wrongful conviction.

He's living there in low income housing trying to work and adjust to his new life - but this is an apartment complex known for crime.

On Monday Detroit police escorted Davontae to his apartment so he could get his belongings - and get out of there.

"Here you have a kid who has had his ability to prepare for adulthood has been ripped away from him," Hurwitz said. "The ability to support himself ripped away from him and in poverty. This is a kid who is living day to day."

"It is tragic certainly the young man has been through enough," Detroit Chief James Craig said. "Being wrongfully incarcerated for so many years, and then to come home, and now he is the victim of a violent crime. It's troubling."

Part of the investigation now is trying to find security video from inside the apartment complex to find who shot Davontae Sanford. Police asking for anyone with information to come forward.

Sanford's attorneys say despite earlier reports he is cooperating with police despite being traumatized.

"He's a victim here," Hurwitz said. "He's in no position right now to be making any public statements - or to be making any statements."

The goal now  they say, to just make sure he's out of harm's way.

"What we're focused on right now is keeping Davontae safe and letting him heal," she said. "He's got a lot of dreams, he's got a lot of aspirations. He wants to try to play a positive role in the world. He wants to influence others in a positive way."

"He'll come back," Goodman said. "He'll fight back."