The man who shot a teenager who knocked on his door for directions was found guilty
The man who shot a teenager who knocked on his door for directions was found guilty
A Michigan jury convicted a white man who was caught in a surveillance video coming from his home to shoot a black teenager who had knocked on his door for directions.
Jeffrey Zeigler, 53, was convicted of assault with the intent to cause great bodily harm and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Initially he had been accused of assault to commit murder attempt.
In a Pontiac court on Friday, Rob Morad, the defense attorney for Jeffrey Zeigler, had said in his final statements that the former firefighter did not intend to injure Brennan Walker, 14, during the April incident.
Around 8 am on April 12, Walker was trying to walk to Rochester High School after missing the bus when he found himself lost and knocked on Zeigler's door in Rochester Hills. He met Jeffrey Zeigler's wife, Dana Zeigler, who started screaming after confusing him with a thief.
"You can see it in the video, ladies and gentlemen, also when he's on the porch, Mr. Zeigler seems to slide ... His right hand is just tied in the gun when the gun is fired. He has no control of that gun, "Morad said. "I was not trying to kill him when the gun went off."
However, assistant prosecutor Kelly Collins responded in his final argument, saying: "Just because he did not succeed, he does not deny his intention."
In April, Walker described his encounter with Dana Zeigler.
"I knocked on her door a couple of times and she came down screaming at me before she could say anything and thought she was trying to break into her house," Walker told ABC's Detroit affiliate WXYZ-TV in April. "I was trying to explain that I wanted to get directions to my school." I said, "No, I'm going to Rochester High, I'm just looking for directions to get to Rochester High."
In court, Dana Zeigler testified that she saw a black person at her door that day and started screaming.
"I was screaming as loud as possible, saying someone is coming into my house." she said. "I yelled at him and asked him what he was doing there, he tells me that he goes to school and then he goes to the door, advances, opens, opens the screen door and puts his hand on the door handle. new, as if he were entering my house. "
"Number one, he did not look like a kid, he was a pretty big man who was standing there, and also, if he went to school, we do not have schools in our area," he said.
A 911 call summoned Oakland County Sheriff's Office officials to Ziegler's home in what was described as an attempted robbery.
In April, during a court appearance, Jeffrey Ziegler, retired from the Detroit Fire Department and disabled by a work-related injury in 2014, said he was asleep in bed "when my wife started screaming and crying."
The surveillance video that was shown this week in court showed Jeffrey Zeigler, wearing only pants, leaving his house and firing once at Walker while the teenager flees. The officers of the scene described the weapon as a "12-gauge shotgun."
Jeffrey Zeigler also testified in court this week, saying he was not trying to kill Walker that day.
"I wanted to shoot more in the air, more towards my shoulder, and I did not have the opportunity to do it because, as I said, it was slippery, and I did not have a good grip on the weapon ... I felt extremely sorry. , He said.
When asked in court whether he would handle the situation differently with Walker, Jeffrey Zeigler said: "Absolutely."
"I would have taken him to school," he said.
Walker was not hit by the bullet fired by Jeffrey Zeigler's gun.
"I saw him holding it (the gun) like that through the window and I think he raised his hand, I do not really remember it, and I started to run." I looked back behind me, saw him pointing and I turned around, I turned and I heard the shot, and I tried to run faster, "Walker said in April.
On Friday, Morad reminded the jurors that the Zieglers had experienced a series of robberies.
"It's a very discouraging feeling when you're a victim," Morad said Friday. "Someone violates the sanctity of their home, enters their home, when they are really at home, it certainly makes them feel very insecure and unstable ..." Mrs. Ziegler was confused that day, no doubt, because she felt that someone was entering her house as if it had happened before ... That's why she screamed. "
Ziegler had pleaded not guilty in the case. The sentence was scheduled for November 18.
ABC News' M.L. Nestel and the ABC News affiliate, WXYZ-TV, contributed to this story.
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