An former Detroit firefighter who was recorded on his home surveillance camera firing a shotgun at a lost teen was sentenced this week to four to 10 years in prison.
Jeffrey Zeigler, 53, of Rochester Hills, Oakland County, was convicted on October 12 after a jury found him guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
He was initially arrested on charges including assault with intent to murder. Footage released at the time showed him rushing out of his home and pointing a weapon at Brennan Walker, then aged 14, who told local media that he had only intended to ask for directions.
The Oakland Press reported on Tuesday that Zeigler was sentenced to serve two to 10 years for intent to do great bodily harm less than murder. He was also sentenced to at least two years for having a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Both sentences are to be served consecutively, judge Wendy Potts ruled. The sentence means Zeigler will serve at least 4 years before being eligible for parole. Walker was not injured in the incident, which occured on April 12.
"I know it was wrong…I've done a lot a soul searching," Zeigler said in court while addressing the boy's mother Lisa Wright, The Oakland Press reported. "I have remorse and regret."
Sheriffs responded at 8:20 a.m. in April after a caller claimed a black male had attempted to break into a home on Rochester Hills, WDIV reported. A police statement released at the time read: "It was determined that the husband chased after the male with a 12 gauge shotgun." It later emerged Zeigler had a previous conviction for a misdemeanor gun charge.
The teenager said he missed his bus while traveling to school and had been trying to ask for help. Walker noted he opened the home's screen door so he could knock on the main door.
"I knocked on the door, stepped back, knocked, stepped back, and then a lady came downstairs yelling at me," Walker said back in April, reported WDIV. "She asked me, 'Why are you trying to break into my house?' and I told her I was just looking for directions to Rochester High."
During the October trial, Zeigler said he had been reacting to his wife's screaming during the incident. He said that his wife had been "in a complete state of panic."
Zeigler denied intending to point the gun directly at the teenager and testified that the wet pavement had caused him to slip and pull the trigger.
His mother said the incident was "definitely was a hate crime," a suggestion denied by defense attorney Rob Morad on Tuesday, The Oakland Press reported. Morad said it was ironic Zeigler's surveillance camera, installed for protection, was "the worst piece of evidence" against him.
Wright said Tuesday she didn't feel Zeigler was remorseful and maintained there was a racial element. "I try to keep race out of it, but we all know that's what it was," she told the court.
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