A Detroit man convicted of second-degree murder over the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager has been sentenced to at least 17 years in prison.
The AP reports that before the judge handed down the sentence, Theodore Wafer, who is white, apologized to the family of 19-year-old Renisha McBride.
“I will carry that guilt and sorrow forever,” Wafer said according to the AP.
McBride, if you remember, crashed her car and, bloodied, she sought help on from Wafer by knocking on his door at 4 a.m.
During the trial, Wafer, 55, argued that McBride was hitting the door hard enough to break it and he fired his shotgun because he felt threatened.
“Because McBride was unarmed when she was shot and killed, the case drew comparisons to the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida, for which George Zimmerman was acquitted in July 2013. Aside from the racial parallels, critics also were angered that, like Zimmerman, Wafer was not immediately arrested, [Michigan Radio] reports.”
The Detroit News reports that the judge sentenced Wafer to 15 to 30 years on the second degree murder charge, seven to 15 years on the manslaughter charged, and “a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence on the felony firearm charge, meaning he’ll serve at least 17 years in prison.”
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