In a case that has attracted national attention, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Friday she will charge the Dearborn Heights homeowner who says he accidentally shot Renisha McBride on his porch with second-degree murder, manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The homeowner, Theodore Paul Wafer, a maintenance worker at Metro Airport who reportedly cares for his 81-year-old mother, was arraigned on the charges Friday afternoon in Dearborn Heights District Court.
He waived a reading of the charges, and Judge Mark J. Plawecki set Wafer’s bail at 10% of $250,000. Plawecki scheduled a preliminary examination for Dec. 18.
Just before noon, Worthy, surrounded by assistant prosecutors, Dearborn Heights police and other officials, said Wafer "did not act in lawful self-defense. There is no evidence of forced entry."
Other coverage: McBride Case: Charges 'Absolutely Unjustified,' 'Interested To Hear Shooter's Side'
McBride, 19, was shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun Nov. 2 by Wafer, 54, who told police he believed someone was breaking into his home. She was unarmed.
Worthy said the shot traveled through a locked screen door after Wafer had opened the heavy front door.
Gerald Thurswell, the attorney who represents McBride’s family, has said there was no justification for the homeowner to shoot McBride, who died about 3:40 a.m. while standing on the porch of the home on W. Outer Drive near W. Warren, the border between Dearborn Heights and Detroit.
“Under Michigan law, there is no duty to retreat in your own home," Worthy said. "However, someone who claims self-defense must honestly and reasonably believe that he is in imminent danger of either losing his life or suffering great bodily harm. and that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent that harm,” she added.
The family of McBride, who is black, said they believe McBride went to the house for help after she was involved in a one-car accident. They also have charged she was racially profiled. Wafer is white.
Civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, have called for a thorough investigation in the case.
Dearborn Heights police have maintained there was no indication that race was involved with the shooting; Worthy said race played no role in the decision to press charges, though she said it could become a factor later, as Wafer heads to trial.
Protesters, some of whom likened the shooting to that of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida youth who was shot by George Zimmerman last year, assembled last week in front of the Dearborn Heights police station and called for the arrest of the homeowner. McBride's death has been covered from the Washington Post to the BBC and and debated heatedly online.
Rashad Robinson, of the civil rights group, ColorofChange.org, released a statement that said in part:
“We applaud Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s decision to charge Renisha McBride’s confessed killer Theodore Paul Wafer with second-degree murder, along with lesser included charges of manslaughter and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, an important step towards ensuring that black youth are no longer killed with impunity."
McBride's car hit a parked car at Brammell and Majestic in Detroit shortly before 1 a.m. Nov. 2, more than two hours before she died on the porch, six blocks away. It is uncertain what she did between the accident and her death. Worthy said she walked away from the scene of the accident confused and bloody.
A toxicology report released Thursday by the Wayne County Medical Examiner showed McBridge was legally drunk and had marijuana in her system.
