New trial granted; prisoner says man was wrongly convicted

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan appeals court says a Detroit-area man convicted of murder deserves a new trial after a state prisoner with a long record of killings said he was the person who pulled the trigger.

The court says Thelonious Searcy has a good chance of acquittal if a jury hears the new evidence. Searcy’s conviction was set aside.

Searcy is serving a life sentence for the fatal shooting of a man in a car near Detroit City Airport.

Witnesses identified him as the shooter, though he insists he was at a family barbecue.

In 2015, Vincent Smothers told Searcy that he killed the victim during a botched robbery. The appeals court found Smothers’ testimony very credible.