Two felonies were filed against the Missouri man who shot Ralph Yarl, a teenager who knocked on the incorrect doorbell while attempting to pick up his younger brothers.
In the April 13 shooting of Black 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, a white man in his 80s named Andrew Lester has been charged with two felonies: first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
The news regarding the charges was released by Clay County Prosecuting Attorney, Zachary Thompson, on Monday evening.
This past weekend, protests in Kansas City and anger across the country grew in response to the shooting of a Black kid, whose family claims he was picking up his younger brothers when he unintentionally went to the wrong house.
The April 13 shooting was survived by Ralph Yarl, a junior in high school who is 16 years old. His father said that he was discharged from the hospital on Sunday and is currently recovering at home with his family.
In response to a question about whether he thinks the shooting had racial undertones, Thompson said the probable cause record makes no mention of anything regarding racism. He claimed that Yarl and Lester didn’t seem to interact at all before the incident.
Although Lester wasn’t in custody as of early Monday, a warrant for his arrest was issued by evening. According to reports, Leser answered the door when the doorbell rang, shot the youngster once in the head, then shot him once more without exchanging a word.
When Ralph Paul Yarl went to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend’s house just before 10 p.m. on Thursday, he was shot. However, Yari went to 115th Street rather than 115th Terrace and was shot twice after ringing the doorbell.
Andrew Lester is not currently in custody and a warrant has been issued by the authorities for his arrest.
The prosecutor responded that because hate crime in Missouri is a lesser degree of felony and adding such charges could result in double jeopardy when asked if they could be added.
Likewise, a probable cause report released Monday evening provides no explanation for why authorities believe race was a factor in this case.
There is no evidence that Lester and Ralph had a conversation before the incident on Thursday night. The prosecution said that there is no proof that the kid entered the house, and preliminary data indicates that Lester fired a 3.2 caliber revolver at the teen through a glass door.
Ralph Yarl provided a formal statement to law enforcement investigators from his hospital bed on Friday. Whoever was inside the house took a little longer to respond when Ralph rang the doorbell. Ralph waited at the door until it opened without releasing that he came to the wrong house.
The attorney stated that he heard rustling around going on in the house and then ultimately the door was open. A man then approached him and yelled at him telling not to come back again around, before firing his gun.
According to reports, Ralph Yarl was shot in the head, breaking his skull and causing catastrophic traumatic brain damage. Andrew Lester fired again, hitting Ralph in the upper right arm while the adolescent was still on the ground.
The issuing of charges against Lester was followed by public outcry over what was viewed as a delay by authorities in finding and charging the shooting of the teen. Lester was arrested shortly after the incident, but the following day he was released. After the incident authorities mostly kept their mouths shut about the situation.
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According to a statement released yesterday, President Biden spoke with the teen and his family, who are being represented by civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Meritt.
According to the attorneys, the President’s call has made the issuing of charges against Lester, the man who is responsible for the deplorable shooting of this innocent boy, faster.
Images of the 16-year-old student with his bass clarinet and younger siblings, as well as much information about the shooting’s circumstances, stirred up strong feelings in Kansas City and on social media. Even the vice president had also spoken up by Monday.
Ralph Yarl is a fantastic student according to his family who is a musically inclined and academically driven high school junior. Even though he academically performed well, he was more passionate about music.
He aimed to study chemical engineering after finishing high school. But destiny hit hard on him. The family of Ralph and the whole of Kansas City are looking forward to his recovery.
Ralph’s trauma gained a lot of attention on social media over the weekend. Halle Berry, Kerry Washington, and Justin Timberlake are just a few prominent people who have posted about the incident and urged their followers to call on their government to apprehend and prosecute the culprit.
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