Wife, husband who shot at black teen asking for directions to school testify

(WJBK) - It's day three in the trial of a Rochester Hills man accused of firing a gun at a teen that knocked on his door looking for directions.

"I was screaming as loud as I possibly could, saying somebody is breaking into my house," his wife, Dana Zeigler.

Zeigler recalls the April morning 14-year-old Brennan Walker appeared on her porch looking for directions. The Rochester High School freshman missed the bus and was lost on his walk to school.

Porch video shows man shoot at teen who asked for directions

"I saw a black person standing at my door and I screamed at him and I asked him what he was doing there," she said. "He tells me that he is going to school and at that point he approaches the door, forward momentum, comes forward, opens the screen door, and puts his hand on the door handle again, as though he's coming into my house."

Panicked, Dana screams and says she woke up her husband Jeffrey from a deep sleep. She thought the person on her porch was trying to break in.

"He didn't look like a child. He was a rather big man standing there, and also, if he was going to school, we have no schools in our area," she said.

Black teen misses bus, gets shot at after asking for directions in Rochester Hills

As Jeffrey came downstairs to see what was going on and Dana frantically called 911. She appeared distraught as that call was played in court. Jeffrey comforted his wife as she leaves the stand and appears to say "I love you."

He is seen wiping tears from his eyes moments later.

Jeffrey Zeigler is charged with assault with intent to murder for firing gunshots as Walker ran from the home. He claims the gunfire was meant to be a warning shot but his foot slipped on the pavement.

"I wanted to fire more up in the air, more towards my shoulder, and I didn't get the chance to because like I said, it was slippery, and I didn't have a good grip on the gun," he said.

Zeigler claims he had no idea the person on his porch was a teenage boy until he saw the surveillance video.

"I felt extremely remorseful. I was -- I was just shocked," he said.

When asked if he would've done things differently:

"I would have given him a ride to school," Zeigler.

The zeiglers told police they have a history of break-ins at their home. A detective testified that there were three in 2009-2010. It was a person known to the family and that person was arrested.

Final arguments are scheduled for tomorrow and then the case will go to the jury.