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Trial
ordered
for 4
charged
in
Detroit
mob
attack
By ED
WHITE
Associated
Press
DETROIT
- Four
men
accused
of
punching
and
kicking
a
motorist
who
accidentally
struck a
10-year-old
Detroit
boy were
ordered
Monday
to stand
trial on
attempted
murder
charges,
after a
judge
reviewed
their
statements
to
police
and
witnesses
testified
about
the
chaotic
mob
attack.
As Steve
Utash
continued
to
recover
in a
hospital
bed,
Judge
Thomas
Jackson
found
probable
cause to
move the
case to
trial in
Wayne
County
Circuit
Court.
Prosecutor
Lisa
Lindsey
introduced
statements
to
police
from
Latrez
Cummings,
19,
James
Davis,
24, and
Wonzey
Saffold,
30, all
acknowledging
a role
in the
April 2
attack.
They
were
ordered
to
trial,
along
with
Bruce
Wimbush
Jr., 17,
who
waived
the
hearing.
"I pray
for the
man
every
day. I
hope him
and the
boy are
going to
be OK,"
Cummings
told
police,
according
to
Lindsey.
Witnesses
to the
attack
described
a
chaotic
scene.
"They
were
hollerin'
and
screamin',
`Oh, my
God, get
him, get
him,'"
witness
Deborah
Hughes
testified.
Hughes,
a nurse,
is
credited
with
rushing
to the
boy's
side and
also
intervening
to save
Utash
from
further
injuries.
She said
Cummings
likely
kicked
the
victim
at least
10
times.
Another
witness,
Ashley
Daniels,
said
Utash
was
attacked
after he
got out
of his
pickup
to check
on the
boy. She
said he
was
stumbling
and his
hat was
knocked
off
after
some
early
blows.
Daniels
said
Utash
was
dared to
pick up
his hat
before
he was
hit
again.
"He
fell. He
got up
again,"
she
said.
"It was
like he
was
almost
accepting
it."
Statements
to
police
indicate
that
three of
four men
recognized
the boy
and had
revenge
on their
mind.
"I saw
the
little
boy on
the
ground
... and
I lost
it,"
Saffold
told
investigators.
Utash,
54, of
Macomb
County's
Clinton
Township,
is a
tree
trimmer
who was
familiar
with the
east
side
Detroit
neighborhood
where a
boy
darted
out in
front of
his
pickup.
He spent
days in
a coma
after
the
beating.
Utash's
family
sat in
the
front
row of
the
courtroom,
while
relatives
of the
accused
men sat
directly
behind
them in
three
rows.
There
were
deep
sighs,
sobbing
and
muffled
utterances
of
"liar"
during
the
testimony.
Some
spectators
were
ejected
by
sheriff's
deputies.
Jackson
noted
that the
legal
threshold
to keep
the case
moving
at this
stage is
low.
Defense
attorneys
said
Utash's
injuries
were
awful
but an
attempted
murder
charge
was too
severe.
"One or
two may
not be
enough
to kill
anyone,"
the
judge
said of
punches
and
kicks,
"but a
combination
may be
enough
to cause
one's
death."
Separately,
a
16-year-old
boy is
charged
in
Juvenile
Court
with
assault
and
ethnic
intimidation
in the
case. He
and the
other
defendants
are
black;
Utash is
white.
Outside
court,
Utash's
brother-in-law
Max Mohr
said
Utash is
struggling
and
disoriented
in the
hospital.
He said
Utash
tried to
walk
with the
help of
nurses
but
lasted
only a
few
steps.
"He's
not the
Steve I
know -
not even
close,"
Mohr
said.
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