Thodore Wafer, the Michigan man charged with shooting 19-year-old Renisha McBride, will go on trial for her murder in July, reports The Detroit News. Wafer is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for fatally shooting McBride on his porch around 5 a.m. on November 2, 2013.
The trial was initially meant to take place in June, but a new judge had to be appointed after it was found that the prosecutor in the case was also on Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Qiana Lilliard’s re-election campaign committee. The new judge, Dana Hathaway, set the trial to begin July 21.
“He’s steadily buying time,” McBride’s aunt Bernita Spinks said. “He’s still walking around while my niece is dead.”
The case is expected to last three weeks, with an estimated 35 witnesses from both the defense and prosecution.
Wafer admits to shooting McBride, but says he feared for his life and thought she was trying to break into his home. Her family concedes that McBride was only trying to get help after crashing her Ford Taurus about a mile away from Wafers’ house in Dearborn Heights.
Pre-trial hearings begin June 20.