Detroit Man, The First Of 6 Sentenced In Brutal Kidnapping & Beating
Tuesday, December 24, 2024, 10:30 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
DETROIT, MI.- On Friday, a 23-year-old Detroit, Michigan man learned he would be spending the next sixteen and a half years in federal prison after being sentenced for his role in the kidnapping and brutal beating of a woman in order to get information from her involving an earlier alleged carjacking.
On Friday, December 20, 2024, Cortez Blake, 23, of Detroit, Michigan, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and was sentenced to 198 months in federal prison on his earlier conviction for Federal Kidnapping.
According To The U.S. Attorney’s Office
According to U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison and documents filed with the court, on August 12, 2024, Blake was found guilty of kidnapping by a federal jury following a trial. Blake was one of seven individuals initially charged with conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping involving the kidnapping of a woman.
Five people have been convicted in federal court. Blake and Nasir Lewis, 24, were convicted of kidnapping at trial, while Maijah Greene, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap, and Shatonnia Kimbrough, 21, pleaded guilty to kidnapping. The trial of Semaj Ayers remains pending, and Karamoh Turner was acquitted at trial.
Two additional individuals were convicted of the carjacking that led up to the kidnapping. Jamar Lee-Stinson pleaded guilty to carjacking and discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and was sentenced in May 2024 to 138 months in federal prison. Amiaya Bryant also pleaded guilty to carjacking and discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
Evidence Presented During Trial
During the trial, the U.S. Attorney’s Office presented evidence that established that the defendants worked with others to kidnap and beat their victim. The kidnappers wrongly believed the victim took part in a carjacking and the kidnapping was to retaliate and get information from the female victim. According to testimony, a group of armed men took the woman from Sinai-Grace Hospital. The kidnappers first drove the woman to an empty lot in Detroit, where they beat her.
Following being beaten, the kidnappers took the woman to a residence where Blake was at, where the woman was held at gunpoint and beaten on and off for several hours. Finally, the woman was abandoned miles away on the side of a road.
At trial, the evidence further established that the female victim was held against her will at gunpoint in a house in the City of Detroit, where she was physically beaten. This was done in part to get information from her. Cellphones were utilized to recruit and direct others to join the kidnapping of the woman. Blake intentionally assisted in the abduction by participating in the beating and interrogation of the female victim.
“Street justice cannot take place in this community. This sentence sends the first message in this case, and beyond that, one alleged wrong cannot justify retribution. This senseless cycle of violence will not be tolerated, and my office will continue to hold those who engage in violence, even if in the name of vengeance, accountable no matter the circumstances,” said U.S. Attorney Ison.
