Renisha McBride was only 19 years old when a white man shot her in the face with a rifle through a locked screen door in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, on November 2, 2013. She was standing on the man’s porch seeking help after having been in a solo car crash, presumably dazed, injured and looking for assistance. Renisha’s family remembers her fondly as a lovely, hardworking, soft-spoken woman who kept to herself.

Renisha’s aunt Bernita Spinks told the paper she believes it was a case of racial profiling. She asked the questions so many people wondered, “He shot her in the head ... for what? For knocking on his door?” Her aunt continued to point out the overwhelming human tragedy of this situation saying, “She went looking for help and now she’s dead.”

The man was charged with and found guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. On September 3, 2014, he was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison. Renisha McBride’s family filed a $10 million wrongful death civil lawsuit against her murderer in the Wayne County Circuit Court. On June 15, 2015, they were awarded an undisclosed amount. The man has appealed his conviction all the way to the Michigan State Supreme Court. On March 9, 2018, that court ruled that his convictions would stand. However, in June 2020, the State Supreme Court agreed to review his case on the grounds of double jeopardy.