DETROIT — A suburban Detroit man who killed an unarmed woman on his porch instead of calling police was sentenced Wednesday to at least 17 years in prison after telling the victim’s family he would carry “guilt and sorrow forever.”
Wayne County Judge Dana Hathaway followed the recommendation of prosecutors in the case of Theodore Wafer, who was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride.
Wafer, 55, of Dearborn Heights shot McBride through a screen door Nov. 2. He said he was awakened by pounding before dawn and feared for his life. A jury rejected his self-defense claim.
“Although the evidence clearly showed that Miss McBride made some terrible choices that night, none of them justified taking her life,” the judge said. “I do not believe that you’re a cold-blooded murderer. … I do believe that you acted out of some fear but mainly anger and panic.”
