DETROIT – Six Detroit residents have been charged after they kidnapped a woman they wrongly believed was involved in a carjacking and beat her for information about the crime, officials said.
An indictment was unsealed Thursday (Nov. 3) and revealed that six people were charged Oct. 12 in the kidnapping scheme: Cortez Blake, 21, Karamoh Turner, 21, Semaj Ayers, 20, Maijah Greene, 22, Shatonnia Kimbrough, 19, and Armond Williams, 20. All six are Detroit residents.
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Officials said on Nov. 14-15, 2021, the group kidnapped a woman they believed had been involved in stealing Blake’s car. They also beat her to get information about the carjacking, according to authorities.
Police said the woman had not actually been involved in the carjacking.
“The coordinated effort to victimize and seek retaliation in this case is stunning,” United States Attorney Dawn Ison said. “This is a clear example of what we see too often: violence causing more violence, and it has to stop.”
The six are charged with kidnapping conspiracy and kidnapping -- aiding and abetting. If convicted, they each face up to life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of supervised release.
Kidnapping scheme
Officials said the group decided to kidnap the woman in order to obtain information about the carjacking and retaliate against her for her role.
After Blake was carjacked, the group of six, as well as some others, spoke on cellphones and over social media to create a plan of retaliation, according to the indictment.
They offered the woman a ride from the hospital, pretending they were going to safely take her home, officials said. Instead, they drove her to an abandoned area and held her against her will, the indictment says.
Authorities said the woman was removed from the car and assaulted with a gun. Members of the group took her cellphone and tried to determine who had been involved in the carjacking, police said.
The woman was forced back into the car and driven to Blake’s house. Officials said the group forced her inside and moved her from room to room, repeatedly interrogating her about the carjacking.
A gun was pointed at the woman while they interrogated her, according to authorities.
“Members of the conspiracy also physically beat (the woman) with their hands, feet, hospital crutches, and a bottle,” the indictment says.
The group called other people to get them to retaliate against the woman, too, authorities said.
She was later driven against her will to the location of another person the group believed to have been involved in the carjacking, police said.
Individual accusations
The indictment outlines specific accusations against each of the six people named.
Blake is accused of interrogating and beating the woman.
Turner is accused of removing the woman from a car by force and assaulting her with a gun.
Ayers is accused of interrogating the woman, beating her, and calling Greene and Kimbrough over to Blake’s house to join the interrogation.
Greene and Kimbrough are accused of physically beating the woman.
Williams is accused of interrogating the woman while at least one other person threatened her with a gun.