Renisha McBride shot in the head while seeking help

Renisha McBride needed help, but instead she was gunned down, her family says.

A woman who appeared to need help in the middle of the night and was subsequently shot to death may have been the victim in a case of self-defense gone wrong, according to WJBK-TV.

Renisha McBride, 19, was killed  in Dearborn Heights, Mich, located just west of Detroit. Her family says she approached a stranger’s house for help around 2:30 a.m. after she had a car accident, according to the Detroit News. She was fatally shot on the porch.

McBride’s aunt insists her niece was racially profiled which led to her death.

“You see a young black lady on your porch and you shoot?” demanded Bernita Sparks, the aunt of slain Detroit 19-year-old Renisha McBride.

McBride’s family is asking prosecutors for information on the incident that left the unarmed young woman dead.  Very few details have been provided. As the Detroit News reported “Dearborn Heights Police Department has identified the person who fired the shot and killed the woman.” However, police have claimed that the shooter believed McBride to be an intruder and shot in self-defense. Initial police reports that described the 19-year-old’s body as having been “dumped” have been amended to state that she was found on the shooter’s porch.

Self-defense gone wrong is not a sufficient excuse for a bullet in the head, McBride’s family has stressed. “He shot her in the head … for what? For knocking on his door,” said Spinks. “If he felt scared or threatened, he should have called 911.”