Lawyer For Man Charged In Highland Park Child Rape Says 'They've Got The Wrong Guy'
DETROIT (WWJ) - An attorney for a man accused in the abduction and rape of an 11-year-old Highland Park girl says he didn't do it.
Family and friends of 24-year-old Ramirez Dewberry packed 30th District Court where he made a brief appearance before Judge Brigitte Hill on Tuesday.
Court-appointed defense lawyer William Winters believes his client will be cleared of the charges.
"They've got the wrong guy; they've got the wrong guy," he told WWJ's Vickie Thomas and other reporters. "He does not fit the description and...there are red flags shouting reasonable doubt about Mr. Dewberry's case."
Among those red flags, Winters said, is an issue with DNA evidence.
"They've got a preliminary profile hit, but there's contamination issues all over the crime scene," he said.
Meantime, Highland Park Detective Brian Menge — who has been leading the investigation — remains "absolutely" confident.
"We put thousands of hours into this case, and many other detectives and officers and a lot of people that haven't been mentioned and stuff," said Menge. "So we've been very meticulous with this, we've taken our time...and, again, it's a good case."
According to police, the girl was grabbed the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, as she walked to school along Church St. in the area of McNichols and John R. Police said the attacker dragged the child at gunpoint into an abandoned home where he sexually assaulted her.
After an investigation that included door-to-door canvassing, Dewberry was arrested in Jackson while riding a Greyhound bus to Detroit from Chicago. He remains jailed without bond on first-degree criminal sexual conduct and other charges.
Is this an open-and-shut case?
"I won't speculate on that," said Menge, "but we did our job."
Dewberry will be back in court for a preliminary hearing on Friday.
