Man convicted in deaths of discount store workers

DETROIT (AP) - A jury has convicted a 35-year-old man of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two 20-year-old suburban Detroit discount store workers. The jury reached a verdict on Monday in the case of Lavere Bryant in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit. The Dearborn man faces a mandatory term of life in prison without parole when sentenced Dec. 11 for the deaths of Joseph Orlando and Brenna Machus. During the trial, Bryant said he didn't commit the crime. Surveillance video showed a suspect enter the Family Dollar store in Dearborn where the victims worked on the night of July 15, 2013, and leave later with Machus. A co-worker found Orlando's body in the store the next day, and Machus was found dead two days later in some woods in Dearborn. Published: Wed, Nov 26, 2014