Victim's text messages and selfies won't be evidence at accused shooter's trial
A victim’s selfies will not be introduced as evidence in a Michigan second-degree murder trial, ClickOnDetroit reports.
Renisha McBride, 19, was shot and killed in 2013 after she “pounded” on a Dearborn Heights man’s door, the Detroit Free Press reports. Defense lawyers say they have cellphone photos of McBride holding a gun on a prior occasion. McBride could have been acting in the gun photo, Wayne County Judge Dana Hathaway said in a Monday ruling. On Friday, the article states, the judge ruled to keep out text messages that the defense claims show McBride was a marijuana dealer.
“Simply selling marijuana doesn’t make a person an aggressor,” Hathaway said in court Friday.
On Monday, the judge also denied a defense motion to drop the second-degree murder charge against Theodore Wafer, the Detroit Free Press reported.
“Someone knocking on your screen door does not create a self-defense,” she stated in court.
Prosecutors and McBride’s family say she was unarmed when she was shot and killed, the Associated Press reports. Wafer’s lawyers argue that McBride was in the process of selling drugs when she arrived at his house, the Free Press reports, and that her actions frightened him.
Prosecutors argue that instead of shooting McBride through a locked screen door, Wafer should have called for help. They assert that nothing from her past is relevant to her shooting.
McBride reportedly crashed her vehicle into a parked car blocks from Wafer’s home, around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, according to the AP article. Wafer called 911 to report the shooting at 4:42 a.m. According to Michigan Live, McBride had a blood alcohol level of .218 at the time of her death.
Family members have said that McBride may have confused Wafer’s home for her family home. The trial is expected to begin July 21.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “Michigan man ordered to stand trial in shooting of Renisha McBride on his porch”
ABAJournal.com: “Homeowner is accused of shooting teen Renisha McBride through screen door”
ABAJournal.com: “Homeowner claims he accidentally killed teen said to be looking for help, police say”
ABAJournal.com: “Family members call for justice in slaying of black woman said to be seeking help after car accident”
