Man convicted of conspiracy in shooting of witness

ANN ARBOR (AP) - A Washtenaw County jury has found a 24-year-old man guilty of conspiracy but not murder in the killing of a 28-year-old man scheduled to testify in a Detroit freeway shooting case. The Ann Arbor News reports Lawrence Mathews was convicted of charges including conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He was acquitted of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Brandon Charles of Ypsilanti Township in January 2013. A jury earlier found Mathews' cousin, 32-year-old Willie Wimberly, guilty of first-degree murder and other charges in the killing. Charles was one of two people wounded following a traffic confrontation on Interstate 94. He had been scheduled to take the stand in the preliminary examination of Wimberly and another man charged in the shooting. A co-defendant was acquitted and another pleaded guilty and is in prison. Published: Thu, Nov 20, 2014