Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times
Theodore Paul Wafer of Dearborn Heights, Mich., was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder Friday in the shooting death of a woman on his porch.
DETROIT — After a two-week investigation, the prosecutor here charged a white suburban homeowner on Friday with second-degree murder in the killing of an unarmed young black woman. The prosecutor rejected the man's assertion that he had been acting in self-defense when he opened his front door and fired a shotgun at the woman through a locked screen door, striking her in the face.
The man, Theodore Paul Wafer, who is white and an employee at the Wayne County Airport Authority, entered a not-guilty plea during an arraignment on Friday. Mr. Wafer had told the police that he believed the woman was breaking into his home. The prosecutor, Kym Worthy, said that she found no evidence of an attempted break-in and that the woman, Renisha Marie McBride, 19, had been knocking on the door.
The shooting has ignited an anguished conversation in this largely black city and beyond about why another unarmed black person has been killed and whether the legal system would call anyone to account. It was the third high-profile, racially charged case this year, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida and the recent police shooting of Jonathan Ferrell in North Carolina after he sought help following a car accident.
Ms. Worthy, who is the Wayne County prosecutor and who herself is black, said, "Race is not relevant." She based her decision "on the facts and the evidence" and not on public opinion or mounting comparisons to other cases, she said.
Emphasizing that the shooting had not met the provisions of Michigan's self-defense law, Ms. Worthy said, "There is no duty to retreat in your own home." But reading from the state code, she said that a person may use deadly force only if "the individual honestly and reasonably believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or imminent great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another individual."
Some, however, said that charges were only a start.
"I think people don't understand that this stuff is happening all the time," said the Rev. Charles Williams II, the Detroit leader of the National Action Network. "We're happy we got a charge in this case — that's progress — but this whole situation tells us that there is still work to do when it comes to race in America."
In a courtroom in Dearborn Heights here on Friday afternoon, Mr. Wafer, 54, stood largely silent. Seeking a bond lower than the $250,000 that was ultimately set, his lawyer, Mack Carpenter, told a judge that Mr. Wafer was a longtime Michigan resident who took care of his 81-year-old mother. Mr. Carpenter said Mr. Wafer had the highest possible security clearance at the airport authority where he works. Michigan State Police records show Mr. Wafer has had two driving offenses, decades old.
By the end of the day, Mr. Wafer had posted bond and was to be released, the authorities said. He was placed on administrative leave from his job, an official from the airport authority said.
In addition to murder in the second degree, Mr. Wafer was charged with manslaughter and a weapons violation, connected to using his Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. The weapon, Ms. Worthy said, appeared to be legally owned by Mr. Wafer. The charges could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. His lawyer, Mr. Carpenter, said he would offer a strong defense.
Members of Ms. McBride's family, who say they feel certain race played a role in her death, are hopeful about the prosecutor's decision to bring charges.
"Renisha can rest now," said Bernita Spinks, Ms. McBride's aunt. "It shows that nobody can get away with what he's done."
Civil rights leaders here, who had questioned why Mr. Wafer was not arrested immediately after the shooting, said that the charges were as serious as they could have anticipated and had come with relative speed.
Steven Yaccino contributed reporting from Chicago, and Susan C. Beachy from New York.
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