Judge Rules That Renisha McBride's Killer Will Stand Trial

On Wednesday, Theodore Wafer, the man charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Renisha McBride on November 2, went before a judge in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. And as of this morning, that judge has ruled that there’s enough evidence for Wafer, who is also charged with manslaughter and possession of a felony firearm, to stand trial.

Carmen Beasley, a witness from Detroit, testified that on November 2 she heard a car hit her husband’s vehicle parked outside and called 911. When she exited her home, she saw McBride, who was “hurt and confused.” Beasley said McBride couldn’t remember her family’s phone numbers and tried to restart her car without success.

“She just kept saying she wanted to go home,” Beasley said while testifying in court.

Beasley added that McBride seemed to be intoxicated, and when she saw the blood on her hands, Beasley called 911 again, but for an ambulance.

A toxicology report revealed McBride’s blood alcohol level was 0.218%, and marijuana was detected in her system. In Michigan, the legal limit for those 21 and older to be considered drunken driving is 0.08%. For drivers under 21, it’s illegal to have a 0.02% or higher blood alcohol level.

Then McBride held her head and walked away from the scene. Several hours later, McBride was shot in the face by Wafer through the screen door of his home in Dearborn Heights. Wafer himself called 911, telling a dispatcher that he’d shot someone on his porch who had been “banging on his door.” A firearms examiner testified that McBride was shot from a mere two feet away.

Wafer’s defense attorneys present that their client feared for his life, but Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy asserted last month in a press conference that there was no way he was in danger nor acting in self defense.

In November, Wafer told police that the gun had gone off accidentally. On Wednesday, Detective Sgt. Shawn Kolonich, a Michigan State Police firearms expert, testified that the gun would not have shot McBride without its trigger being pulled.

David Balash, a Firearms examiner and witness for the defense, testified that McBride was around two feet from the gun when she was shot. Still, Assistant Wayne County Medical Examiner Kilak Kesha testified that he couldn’t find evidence to support McBride being shot at close range “based on the lack of soot or stippling” though she would’ve died immediately from the bullet. In addition, Kesha said it was also impossible to tell if she suffered brain damage because her injuries were too severe.

The death of 19-year-old McBride, who is black, at the hands of Wafer, who is white, attracted national attention in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida. As it damn well should.