After finding Theodore Wafer guilty of killing Renisha McBride on his front porch when she knocked his door seeking help, the sentence for the crime was handed down today and 55-year-old Wafer will be locked away for a long time.
After an emotional trial in a city where racial tensions have been escalating during bankruptcy proceedings, Wafer was sentenced Wednesday to 17 to 32 years in prison as McBride’s family watched. Wafer is white and McBride was black.
“I do not believe that you are a coldblooded murderer or that this case had anything to do with race,” Judge Dana M. Hathaway told Wafer as she handed down the sentence. “I do believe that you acted out of fear, but an unjustified fear has never been an excuse for taking someone’s life.”
Wafer’s attorneys have already said that he plans to appeal. Wafer, an airport maintenance worker, read a short apology in court.
“To the parents, family and friends of Renisha McBride, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and I am truly sorry for your loss. I can only hope and pray,” he said, tearing up, “that somehow you can forgive me.”
Wafer will serve 17 years before he is up for parole
