Judge Sets June Trial Date for Renisha McBride's Killer

Theodore Wafer, charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Renisha McBride last November, will face trial in June. Are you ready? I think this will be like the George Zimmerman Trial II, but I’m hoping for a verdict that doesn’t make me want to restage the Los Angeles riots this time.

On Wednesday, Wafer entered a plea of not guilty during a hearing before Michigan’s Wayne County Judge Qiana Denise Lillard. He was arraigned on charges of manslaughter, second-degree murder and a felony firearms count and his trial is slated for June 2-13.

In December, expert witnesses testified in court that McBride seemed intoxicated and a toxicology report revealed that she had a blood alcohol level of 0.218% and marijuana in her system.

Carmen Beasley, a witness from Detroit, also testified that she dialed 911 when McBride crashed her car into Beasley’s husband’s parked automobile outside of their home. When Beasley came outside, she found a “hurt and confused” McBride and dialed 911 again, this time for an ambulance. A bleeding McBride then wandered away from the scene holding her head.

Several hours later, Wafer shot McBride in the face through his home’s screen door in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. Wafer also called 911 to report he’d shot someone who’d been “banging on his door.” A firearms examiner testified that McBride was shot from a mere two feet away, and Wafer initially told police that the gun went off by accident. Then he said he was afraid for his life. But Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy thinks Wafer is full of shit and has said there’s no way he was worried for his safety or acting in self defense.

We’ll see what the jury says but, I won’t lie, I’m worried. The trend seems to be when black people are killed in cold blood, there’s little justice. I wish so badly to be wrong in the case of the late Ms. McBride. At this point, Renisha’s death says I can no longer just be worried about the black men I hold dear scaring folks into killing them — sad sarcasm right there— but myself too as an African American woman. Because I’m terrifying, just because I exist.