Joshua Lott / Reuters
A mourner holds an obituary displaying a picture of Renisha McBride during her funeral service in Detroit, Michigan on Nov. 8, 2013. McBride was shot dead on Nov. 2 at a home in a suburb of Detroit. On Monday, her death was ruled a homicide.
By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News
An autopsy report on a 19-year-old woman, who was shot and killed on a front porch in Detroit, determined that she was shot in the face, and a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide Monday.
Renisha McBride was shot on Nov. 2 with “no evidence of close range discharge,” according to a report released by the Wayne County Medical Examiner.
McBride’s family said that she had gotten into a car accident and was shot by a man whose house she approached in an attempt to seek help. The external portion of the autopsy report said McBride’s clothing was wet.
The 54-year-old homeowner’s lawyer, Cheryl Carpenter, told The Detroit News that her client woke up in the middle of the night fearing someone was trying to break into his house.
Still, McBride’s family insists the 54-year-old’s actions were racially-charged.
"It's hard to ... believe it's an accident when a gun is in her face and the trigger is pulled," the family's attorney, Gerald Thurswell, told The Detroit News.
The case has drawn attention from civil rights groups and protestors who are likening the shooting to those of Trayvon Martin and Jonathan Ferrell, the former college football player who was shot and killed by police in North Carolina as he sought help after a car accident.
McBride's death “raises many questions about preconceptions, bias, profiling, motive and more … when no arrest has been made and no charges filed, what sort of signal are the authorities sending,” National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton wrote in a blog post Monday.
A Facebook page called “Justice for Renisha McBride” has garnered 3,730 “likes.”
Prosecutors told the Associated Press they're investigating further to determine whether or not to charge the 54-year-old man.
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