Mich. porch shooter gets 17 years for killing Renisha McBride

DETROIT - A judge has sentenced a suburban Detroit man to 17 years in prison for killing an unarmed woman on his porch.

Theodore Wafer was sentenced Wednesday for the second-degree murder of Renisha McBride. Before sentencing, the 55-year-old Dearborn Heights man told the young woman's parents he was sorry for what happened during the early morning hours of Nov. 2.

Prosecutors recommended at least 17 years in prison for Wafer, including two years for unlawful use of a gun. During trial, he said he shot the 19-year-old because he feared for his life, but a jury rejected Wafer's claim of self-defense.

Defense attorney Cheryl Carpenter asked for as few as six years in prison.

Wafer never denied shooting McBride in the face when she showed up drunk on his porch last November, according to CBS Detroit. He testified that he shot the victim in self-defense after she pounded on his door and allegedly attempted to break into his home.

The station reports McBride had an extremely high blood-alcohol level at the time of the incident. She was shot three hours after walking away from a car crash in Detroit, roughly a half-mile away from Wafer's home.