DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The parents of Renisha McBride, an unarmed 19-year-old woman who was shot to death in Dearborn Heights, spoke publicly for the first time, after the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office charged 54-year-old Theodore Paul Wafer with her slaying.

Wafer was charged with three counts, the most serious being second degree murder, for firing a gun and killing McBride on his front porch when she had knocked on his door around 3:30 a.m., on Nov. 2., allegedly asking for help after getting into a car accident

Wafer.

Toxicology reports have revealed that McBride had a blood alcohol content level of .21. The incident has sparked a national racial conversation, as McBride was a young African American woman who was killed by an older Caucasian male.

“I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail,” Walter Simmons, father of McBride, said, referring to the man charged as the “monster that killed my daughter.”

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a press conference that Wafer “did not act in lawful self-defense” and that he would be turning himself in to face justice. He was arrested and placed on bond, with a $250,000 ten percent tether.

Simmons and his wife, Monica McBride, thanked the prosecutor and their community, which has rallied around the family, with supporters demonstrating outside the Dearborn Heights police station to demand charges. 

McBride.

McBride’s parents described her as a family-oriented young woman with dreams of being a nurse or doing something in the automotive field who loved animals, playing soccer and being with her sisters.

McBride had crashed her car in a nearby Detroit neighborhood and knocked on the homeowner’s door afterwards, looking for assistance. McBride was “bloodied, disoriented and appeared to be confused” after the crash, according to witnesses. Wafer told police he thought McBride was breaking in; he also said his shotgun went off by accident.

There appears to be some unanswered questions in her case however. Witnesses confirmed that McBride had crashed her vehicle around 12:30 a.m., however Wafer did not call authorities to report his altercation with her until around 4:30 a.m. Some reports speculate that he may have waited a full hour after shooting her to contact police.

Wafer awaits his pre-trail, scheduled for December 18 at the Wayne County Circuit Court.