Dearborn Heights Man Guilty in Porch Shooting

The Dearborn Heights homeowner who shot Renisha McBride, 19, on his porch last November has been convicted of second-degree murder, manslaughter and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Theodore Wafer, 55, was immediately remanded to jail by Judge Dana Hathaway, The Detroit News reports. The jury of seven men and five women returned the verdict after a second day of deliberations.

McBride’s father, Walter Simmons, said “justice was served” and told WDIV, Channel 4 that Wafer is a “cold-blooded killer.” He said he hopes Wafer gets a life sentence – one of the options when he is sentenced Aug. 21.

Monica McBride said the verdict showed that her daughter’s life was valued.

“It was overwhelming. I kept the faith and I stayed positive,” she told WDIV. “I’m very pleased. I’m astonished ... her life mattered, and we showed that.”

During 11 days of testimony, prosecutors characterized Wafer as angry, paranoid and eager to confront vandals responsible for damaging his vehicle with paint balls. He reportedly kept a loaded shotgun at his home.

Wafer testified that he was afraid for his life when McBride, dazed and bloody after crashing her car nearby, banged on side and front doors around 1 a.m. on the morning of Nov. 2. Toxicology reports showed that she was drunk and had marijuana in her system.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Wafer shot her through a closed door “to protect myself, to save myself,” he testified. “It was them or me.”

He also testified that he thinks about the victim daily. “So devastating,” he testified tearfully. “This poor girl. She had her whole life in front of her. I took that from her.”

Cheryl Carpenter, one of Wafer’s attorneys, said during her closing that he was “terrorized in his home” and it his fear for his life was reasonable given the repeated pounding on the doors.

The pounding was “getting louder and louder and louder and louder until the floors started vibrating, the walls were shaking, the window was about to break, the screen door was already broken,” Carpenter said, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.

Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Athina Siringas said Wafer failed to establish that he acted in self defense and the evidence did not support that claim. During their investigation of the crime scene, police found no evidence that McBride had tried to break into the home or that she was armed.

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PHOTO: Theodore Wafter, 55, listens as the jury is polled after convicting him of three charges in the Nov. 2 porch shooting of Renisha McBride. (Screenshot: WDIV video)