A suburban Detroit man will spend at least 17 years in prison for killing an unarmed 19-year-old woman who appeared on his porch last November, a judge said, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Theodore Wafer, 55, an airport worker, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of Renisha McBride, 19.
The centerpiece of the the trial was whether Wafer had a reasonable and honest belief that his safety was in peril when McBride pounded on his door, early on the morning of November 2.
At first, Wafer, who is white, had suggested to police he accidentally shot McBride, an African American woman, but later admitted he intentionally shot her because, he feared for his life. He had opened his front door, shooting McBride, in the face through a screened door. The jury rejected Wafer’s self-defense claim.
Before Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway handed down the sentence, Wafer apologized to the McBride’s family saying, “I will carry that guilt and sorrow forever.”
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement: “This is yet another case that shows the justice system at work in Wayne County—from the police investigators, the prosecutors, the jury and judge, to the family of Renisha McBride, who stoically and patiently waited for justice. We all must remember that a young woman with her future ahead of her lost her life.”
