A Dearborn Heights man was resentenced following a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that vacated part of his conviction in the shooting death of Renisha McBride in 2013.
Ted Wafer appeared in the Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court on Wednesday to be resentenced. Members of the McBride family spoke in support of the maximum sentence. Wafer himself addressed the court, telling the judge that he wants to spread the word of God, and prays for forgiveness.
Judge Dana Hathaway resentenced Wafer to 15-30 years in prison, under the guidelines, with credit for time served. Wafer has served nearly eight years of a minimum prison sentence of 17 years, which included a conviction for use of a gun.
“We are pleased with the Court’s resentencing of Mr. Wafer today. There were very sound reasons for the original sentence, and it was the wisest course to give the same sentence today,” said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Earlier this year, the Michigan court said Ted Wafer’s constitutional rights were violated when a jury was allowed to convict him of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. “We are aware of no cases in this state in which defendants were convicted of and received punishments for both second-degree murder and statutory involuntary manslaughter on the basis of a single killing,” Justice David Viviano wrote.
Wafer, now 63, opened his front door in Dearborn Heights and shot McBride, 19, through a screen door before dawn. He said he was awakened by pounding and feared for his life, though he didn’t call 911 first. A jury rejected his self-defense claim.
Prosecutors speculated that McBride, who had crashed her car hours earlier, might have been confused when she arrived on Wafer’s porch.
Wafer is white and McBride was Black; some people wondered in the aftermath of the shooting whether race was a factor, likening it to the 2012 shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. But race was hardly mentioned at trial.