Mother of Black Teen Shot at While Asking For Directions ‘Livid’ After White Suspect is Granted Parole

After Brennan Walker, a Black teenager from Rochester Hills, MI, was shot at by Jeffrey Ziegler, a white man, Walker’s mother wants answers about why the suspect was granted parole.

Fox 2 reported Walker was shot at after knocking on Ziegler’s door looking for directions to school after missing his bus in 2018. Ziegler was convicted of assault with intent to murder and felony firearm. Now, he will be released in two months.

The victim’s mother, Lisa Wright, is livid about the news. “He never admitted to what he did in trial court, in appeal court, in a letter, nothing,” Wright said. “He has not shown remorse, he is still going with the story that he slipped and fell.”

Sources reported Ziegler’s wife claimed she thought Walker was trying to break into the house after experiencing a series of attempted break-ins. She woke her husband up, and after grabbing his gun, reports said surveillance footage showed Ziegler shooting the gun towards Walker, who was running away.

Luckily, Walker wasn’t hit.

While Wright said her son has “pretty much blocked it out entirely,” she says it still affects him and their family, especially after finding out about the parole granted almost five year to the date after the incident.

The Parole Board sent a letter to Walker and his mother alerting them of Ziegler’s release from Bellamy Creek correctional facility, close to April 11th. “That was like jabbing a knife in my heart and turning it,” Wright said. “I was just like, it’s the same day. Like, are you serious?”

Paul Stablein, Ziegler’s attorney, felt the parole board made the right decision of releasing his client. However, Walker and Wright have 20 days to appeal the board’s decision. If the decision stays in place, Ziegler will have to keep his distance from Walker with a no-contact order.