Dearborn Heights man who killed Renisha McBride could get shorter sentence

He's a convicted killer sent to prison for shooting a young woman who knocked on his door.

But Theodore Wafer could soon get a shorter sentence. The family of Renisha McBride is completely against a shorter sentence for the man who ended the 19 -year-old's life.

But because of something the judge said, Wafer may get his chance.

"My family has not been the same, my family has not been the same," said Bernita Spinks, McBride's aunt.

After a controversial police investigation, and an emotional trial, the family of Renisha McBride thought they had finally received justice. Theodore Wafer, the man who shot and killed the 19-year-old on the his Dearborn Heights porch was convicted of second degree murder and manslaughter and use of a firearm during a felony.

Last September, Judge Dana Hathaway sentenced him to  at least 17 years behind bars. WATCH the sentencing below.

But the court of appeals just ruled that Wafer may get a chance to be resentenced.

"How is this happening so fast," said Bernita Spinks, McBride's aunt. "This man hasn't even had time to think about the crime he committed and the life he's taken."

Wafer's defense filed the appeal based on the fact that Judge Dana Hathaway claimed she had to stay between the sentencing guidelines. According to the Michigan Supreme Court,  judges are not bound by the sentencing guidelines, but the courts should take them into account.

The decision by the higher court allows Wafer to get a new hearing, which may allow him to be resentenced for a crime he just began serving.

"Like he picked up that pen to get appeal to get a lighter sentence, he could have picked up the cell phone and dialed 911," Spinks said.

McBride was killed in Nov. 2013. She had been in a car accident and went to Wafer's house looking for help, after she had been in an accident several blocks away.

She had been drinking and was disoriented when she began knocking on his door, but she was not armed.

Wafer testified he grabbed his shotgun opened the door and fired his weapon at McBride because he feared she was an intruder, that he killed her in self-defense, but the jury did not agree.

"It's the consequences," Spink said. "If you do the crime you must do the time. The guidelines were set and she went by the guidelines."

FOX 2 did put in a call to Wafer's attorney, but have not heard back.

Wafer did try to appeal his conviction but the state supreme court did uphold it. The only thing which may change is his sentence and that hearing has not been held yet.

BELOW: Watch the original sentence by Judge Hathaway.