Preliminary hearing in fatal porch shooting of 19-year-old Renisha McBridePosted: 12/18/2013
Last Updated: 2 hours and 50 minutes ago
By: ED WHITE, Associated Press
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) - A young, drunk woman fatally shot on a man's porch in suburban Detroit was hurt, scared and confused a few hours earlier when she crashed her car into a parked car, a witness testified Wednesday.
Carmen Beasley provided details about the hours preceding the death of Renisha McBride, 19, who was shot in the face by a 54-year-old homeowner in the dark, early morning of Nov. 2.
A Dearborn Heights judge is holding a hearing to determine if there's enough evidence to send Theodore Wafer to trial on a second-degree murder charge. Defense attorneys claim he feared for his life, but prosecutors say the shooting was not justified.
Beasley said she heard a "boom" outside her Detroit home about 1 a.m. and discovered that her car had been smashed. She called 911, went outside and found McBride, who had walked away but returned to the scene.
McBride was bleeding and pressing her hands to her head, Beasley testified.
"She couldn't find her phone. She was patting her pockets. ... She just kept saying she wanted to get home," Beasley said.
Beasley went back into her house to call an ambulance, but McBride had walked away again by the time help arrived.
McBride was "discombobulated" and appeared to be in a "confused state of not knowing where she was and not being able to give a phone number or anything," Beasley said.
More than three hours later, around 4:30 a.m., McBride was fatally shot by Wafer on his front porch in Dearborn Heights. He called 911 to report that he fired after someone was "banging on my door."
Dr. Kilak Kesha, who conducted the autopsy, testified that McBride was shot in the face at close range. He said her blood-alcohol level was about 0.22, more than twice the legal limit for driving, but that it was probably even higher before she was shot as blood-alcohol levels drop over time. He said she had also been using marijuana.
...more at linkhttp://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/state/Prel ... ha-McBride______________________________________
Day one testimony included seven witnesses. Here's some of the key testimony: - Wayne County Medical Examiner Kilak Kesha testified that McBride had recently smoked marijuana and had a blood-alcohol level of approximately .28 or .29 at the time she was shot. She had a .217 blood-alcohol level at the time toxicology samples were retrieved hours later.
- Kesha agreed that, based on the impact of the crash, McBride could have suffered a brain injury, but he could not confirm.
- Medical examiner testified the shot was straight-forward from about 3 feet away.
- Dearborn Heights Detective Sgt. Steve Gurka said when he arrived at the scene, the screen of Wafer's front door was dislodged. It's unclear if this occurred before or after the shot.
- The screen door was locked.
- Gurka testified that there were smudges, possibly from a palm, and "waffling," possibly from the screen, detected on the door.
- Dearborn Heights police visited Wafer's home on three occasions, twice subsequent to the Nov. 2 shooting on Nov. 8 and Nov. 11 at the request of Wayne County Prosecutor.
- Wafer was released and allowed to keep his weapon, a pistol-grip, 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, after being questioned the morning of the homicide.
- Two witnesses, Carmen Beasley, who owns the parked car struck by McBride, and Paris Pace, who was parked across the street, were present after the crash. Both said she appeared disoriented and left the scene and returned three times.
- Detroit police were called after the crash at 1:57 a.m. on Nov. 2. They did not arrive until after 1:40 a.m. By then, McBride was gone.
- State police firearms expert Shawn Kolonich inspected the shotgun and confirmed, at least during testing, it did not fire without about 6.5 pounds of pressure being applied to the trigger.
- A firearms expert for the defense (he said he was working under a $3,500 retainer) testified that based on the height of McBride and the entrance of the home, the screen would have had to be dislodged prior to the shooting.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index ... h_kil.html
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