The man who shot Renisha McBride has been slapped with a 2nd degree murder charge from Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy. 54-year old Theodore Wafer is expected to be arraigned today at 2 PM for his role in the shooting death of McBride. This morning, Wayne County Attorney Kym Worthy charged the Dearborn Heights homeowner with 2nd degree murder, manslaughter, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Police believe McBride crashed her car at around 1 AM Saturday morning November 2nd. She left the scene of the accident and apparently sought help at Wafer’s residence. Wafer shot her sometime between the accident and 4:42 AM when he called 911 to report the shooting. According to police reports there was no sign of forced entry. Michigan law permits a homeowner to use lethal force inside his home if forced entry occurs or if the homeowner has reasonable grounds to fear for his life. Worthy believes that those standards were not met and that therefore, Wafer had no justification for killing McBride. Toxicology reports indicated that McBride was under the influence of alcohol at the time of her death with a blood alcohol content of .218. Worthy does not believe police conducted a toxicology report on the suspect.
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The shooting death of Renisha McBride has drawn comparisons to the Trayvon Martin slaying. In both cases, the victims were African-American, and in both cases police did not make an arrest at the time of the shooting. Apparently in both cases they also only conducted toxicology tests on the deceased while failing to do so for the shooter. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has acted more quickly to prosecute McBride’s killer than the prosecutors acted in the Trayvon Martin killing however. Now time will tell whether justice is served in the killing of Renisha McBride.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
