Man Charged With Killing of Teen Seeking Help

Theodore Wafer accused of 2nd-degree murder in death of Renisha McBride
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2013 11:54 AM CST
Man Charged With Killing of Teen Seeking Help
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announces second-degree murder charges against Theodore P. Wafer, 54, of Dearborn Heights, during a news conference in Detroit, Nov. 15, 2013.   (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The man who shot a 19-year-old in the face after she knocked on his door seeking help after a car accident will be charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced today. Officials are asking Theodore Wafer, 54, to turn himself in, and they expect to arraign him today, the Detroit Free Press reports. "We do not believe he acted in lawful self defense," Worthy said, explaining that such a claim requires a reasonable belief of imminent death or grave bodily harm.

Worthy said there were no signs that Renisha McBride tried to force her way into Wafer's home. According to prosecutors, she knocked on a locked front screen door. Wafer then allegedly opened the inner door, and shot her through the screen door. A toxicology report released yesterday indicates that McBride was drunk at the time, with a blood alcohol level of .218, and that there's a "strong possibility" she had marijuana in her system, CBS reports. A lawyer for her family says that shouldn't matter, and that Wafer should have called 911. "Maybe she would have been arrested because she was drunk—but she'd be alive." (More Renisha McBride stories.)

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