Detroit-Area Man Gets 17 Years in Porch Shooting of Renisha McBride: Race was hardly mentioned at all

A suburban Detroit man was sentenced Wednesday to at least 17 years in prison for killing an unarmed woman who appeared on his porch before dawn.

Theodore Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder in the Nov. 2 death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride. Before he was sentenced, the Dearborn Heights man apologized to McBride's family, saying he killed a woman who was "too young to leave this world."

"I will carry that guilt and sorrow forever," said Wafer, often pausing to control his emotions.

Wafer was convicted last month after a nine-day trial that centered on whether the 55-year-old had a reasonable and honest belief that he was in peril. He testified that he was awakened by pounding on his doors and shot McBride because he feared for his life. A jury rejected his claim of self-defense.

Prosecutors recommended at least 17 years in prison for Wafer, the low end of the guidelines, including two years for unlawful use of a gun. Defense attorney Cheryl Carpenter asked for as few as six years in prison.

Noting Wafer's age, Carpenter told Judge Dana Hathaway that anything more than 10 years in prison would be a "life sentence." The judge declined to go below the guidelines.

No one knows why McBride ended up at Wafer's home about 4:30 a.m., though prosecutors speculated she may have been seeking help. She had crashed her car into a parked car about a half-mile away in Detroit around 1 a.m. An autopsy found she was extremely drunk.

Wafer opened the front door and shot McBride in the face, firing through a screen door. He first suggested to police that it was an accident but later admitted to intentionally pulling the trigger.

The judge said McBride had made "some terrible choices" but that she didn't deserve to be killed.

Hathaway described the case as "one life gone and one life ruined."

The jury convicted Wafer of murder, manslaughter and a gun-related charge on Aug. 7. His maximum sentence is 32 years in prison, although he'll be eligible for parole after serving the minimum of 17.

Wafer is white and McBride was black, and some wondered in the aftermath of the shooting whether race was a factor, likening it to the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. But race was hardly mentioned at trial.

Tampa grandmother mistakingly shot & critically wonded her 7 year old grandson

A grandmother shot and critically wounded her 7-year-old grandson early Tuesday after mistaking him for an intruder who had broken into her home, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.

Linda Maddox, 63, and her twin grandsons were sleeping in a bedroom at about 1 a.m. after her son, who is the boy's father, had left for work at the postal service, deputies said. Maddox told deputies she had placed a chair against the bedroom door handle for extra protection while they slept.

When she heard the chair sliding against the wood floor, she assumed it was an intruder and grabbed a loaded .22-caliber revolver she keeps by the bed and fired one shot in the dark toward the door.

Deputies say seconds later she heard her grandson Tyler Maddox scream. He was shot once in the upper body. He was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Cristal Bermudez Nunez said Maddox felt unsafe when her son would work overnight, so she would bring her grandchildren into the bedroom with her and block the door with a leaning chair. She said deputies have been called to the house 12 times since 2011, including a call about a suspicious person on June 20, 2011, and a suspicious vehicle last Jan. 2. None of those calls turned into anything significant, she said.

Neighbor Jonathan Aristizabal, 18, said he has lived in the middle-class community for six months and hasn't noticed anything that would make him think the area is unsafe. He said he often saw the kids playing in the front yard.

"It's a big tragedy," he said. "They're a really good family."

Missouri State Highway Patrol is taking over supervising security in the St. Louis suburb

Hundreds of people protesting the death of a black Missouri teenager shot by a white police officer are marching through the streets of Ferguson.

The protests come as the Missouri State Highway Patrol is taking over supervising security in the St. Louis suburb amid criticisms of the police response.

Early Thursday evening, St. Louis County police and state troopers were walking alongside demonstrators. Several marchers stopped to shake hands with officers. One woman hugged Capt. Ron Johnson of the Highway Patrol, who is overseeing security.

The scene stands in stark contrast to earlier this week when officers in riot gear and in military equipment clashed with protesters. Crowds have gathered since Saturday's shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Johnson told The Associated Press, "We all want justice. We all want answers."

The Missouri State Highway Patrol will take over supervising security in the St. Louis suburb that's been the scene of violent protests since a police officer fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, the governor announced Thursday.

Gov. Jay Nixon made the announcement that security will be overseen by Capt. Ron Johnson of the Highway Patrol after the local police response drew heavy criticism. Nixon said the change is intended to make sure "that we allow peaceful and appropriate protests, that we use force only when necessary, that we step back a little bit and let some of the energy be felt in this region appropriately."

Johnson, who is black, said he grew up in the community and "it means a lot to me personally that we break this cycle of violence."

"Ferguson will not be defined as a community that was torn apart by violence but will be known as a community that pulled together to overcome it," Nixon said at a news conference.

Crowds have gathered to protest since Saturday's shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. On Sunday night, some residents were seen looting stores, damaging buildings and vandalizing property. Since then, officers from multiple departments in riot gear and in military equipment have clashed nightly with protesters, who chant, "Hands up, don't shoot," a reference to witness accounts that Brown had his hands raised when he was shot.

Police have used tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse large crowds, including on Wednesday night when some people threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at officers.