The trial involving the killing of Renisha McBride,19, who was fatally shot after knocking on the front door of a Dearborn Heights home last Nov. 2, is expected to generate a lot of attention, and the verdict will likely be national news and generate more talk about race in America.
On Wednesday, the prosecution and defense delivered very different views of the tragic shooting during opening statements in Wayne County Circuit Court.
The prosecution told jurors that McBride posed no threat to Theodore Wafer, the resident who opened fire with his shotgun around 4:40 a.m. He's charged with second-degree murder, according to a report by Orlandar Brand-Williams of the Detroit News.
“There was no prying (of the doors) or no kicking,” Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Danielle Hagaman-Clark told the Wayne County Circuit jury. “His actions were unnecessary, unjustified ... and because of what he did, a 19-year-old girl is dead on a porch in Dearborn Heights.”
She said he could have called 911, the News reported.
The defense team argued that Wafter` feared for his life and thought several people were trying to break into his home.
“His heart is coming out of his chest,” said defense attorney Cheryl Carpenter. “He sees a shadowy figure and he thinks not one person, but two or more people, he believes, at his home. He was afraid for his life.”
She said he couldn't find his cell phone to call police so he grabbed his shotgun, the News reported.
