KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An 84-year-old man has been charged in the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced late Monday afternoon.
Andrew D. Lester faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting Thursday in a Northland neighborhood. A warrant for his arrest issued Monday calls for him to be held on a $200,000 bond.
Thompson noted that the assault charge is a class A felony. If found guilty, Lester faces no less than 10 years and up to 30 years or life imprisonment.
The teen was shot after knocking on the wrong door where he had been sent to pick up his younger twin brothers, his family has said. The shooting has stoked national outrage with Vice President Kamala Harris as well as several celebrities weighing in.
The junior at Staley High School, who is Black, was allegedly shot in the head by the homeowner Lester, who is white. Lester allegedly shot Yarl again after he had fallen to the ground. Yarl got up and sought help at three homes before someone assisted him, family members said.
Lester was taken into custody and released.
Amid outrage and questions over the weekend about why Lester was released and not immediately charged, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday that investigators needed a formal statement from the victim, forensic evidence and other information for the case file to be completed.
She also said that authorities would consider whether the homeowner was protected by the state’s “Stand Your Ground” laws, which gives people the right to use deadly force to protect themselves. According to the law, the use of force must be proportionate to the level of threat.
Yarl’s shooting prompted a protest Sunday as well as national attention from celebrities including Jennifer Hudson, Halle Berry and Justin Timberlake. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he hopes “the justice system does right by him.”
Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver said, “I can think of no justification for shooting a child multiple times for ringing the wrong doorbell—and we as a society ought to think very carefully about whether or not that is the world we want to live in.”
Yarl was released from the hospital Sunday and was recovering at home, his father, Paul Yarl, said Monday morning.
Kansas City police sent the investigative case file sent to prosecutors Monday.
After the charges were announced, Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a text message he was “relieved to see this first step towards justice for Ralph Yarl with today’s felony charges.”
“Now we must remain engaged through trial,” he added.
Northland Democrats released a joint statement praising the decision to file charges. The statement, attributed to Missouri Reps. Ashley Aune, Jamie Johnson, Maggie Nurrenbern and Eric Woods, said it would be naive to assume that a white teenager in the same situation would face the same violence as Yarl did.
“This is a time when we must be willing to have hard conversations about racism in this country and, sadly, in our communities. We stand with the Black community and everyone crying out for justice,” the statement said.
Ben Crump, a national civil rights lawyer who is working with the Yarl family, said President Joe Biden spoke with Yarl and his family for about 20 minutes earlier Monday. Biden offered his prayers and invited him to the White House once Ralph health improves, Crump said.
“It was appropriate for the prosecutor to charge him and the only tragedy was that it took so long for them to charge him,” Crump said.
“You can’t send a message to society that it’s OK to shoot Black people in the head just for ringing your doorbell,” he said.
Lee Merritt, another national civil rights attorney working with the family said:
“‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ We are relieved that charges are finally moving forward but are disappointed in the delay that necessitated national outcry for an obvious crime. We are cautiously optimistic about accountability and justice.”
Differing accounts
According to court documents, a witness told police that a vehicle pulled into Lester’s driveway around 9:30 p.m.
Lester told police during an interview that he had just lay down when he heard the doorbell ring. He picked up a revolver and opened the interior door. He saw a Black male pulling on the exterior door and said he thought someone was trying to break in.
He fired two shots. No words were exchanged, according to Lester, who told police he was protecting himself and expressed concern for the victim.
Police conducted an informal interview with Yarl at Children’s Mercy Hospital. The teen said he rang the doorbell, waited outside and did not pull on the door. A man opened the door holding a firearm.
Yarl said he was immediately shot in the head and fell to the ground where he was shot a second time, this time in the right arm.
Yarl told police the man said, “Don’t come around here.”
At a news conference Monday, Thompson was asked if race was a factor.
He said yes, but declined to elaborate.
Thompson also read part of Missouri’s Stand Your Ground law, but declined to comment on the specifics of the case “to protect the integrity of the process.”
Responding to news of the charges, the Rev. Vernon Howard Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said there needs to be a shift in understanding of what justice is.
“To be clear, justice is when this does not happen,” he said. “We will receive justice as a people when Ralph Yarl and other young, unarmed, innocent, talented, gifted beautiful Black men and women do not have to suffer the risk of their lives being lost because of the color of their skin or because they ring the doorbell at the wrong house.”
Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said she was pleased chargers were filed in the case.
“They are appropriate to the crime, and they should send a strong message to everyone that it is not okay to shoot anyone for simply ringing your doorbell,” she said.
“Clearly, race was a factor in this shooting. Therefore, it is my hope that federal hate crime charges will also be filed against Andrew Lester. He has not shot any white people who rang his doorbell.”
Support in the neighborhood
D’mario Gray, 39, who owns a foundation to mentor kids in the city, stopped by Lester’s house, the scene of Yarl’s shooting, on Monday afternoon to show support for Yarl. He “looks like a lot of the kids I mentor,” Gray said.
“We basically tired, man; tired of this,” he said.
Gray welcomed the news that Lester had been charged. He said Ralph may be traumatized for the rest of his life because of the injuries he suffered.
“He’s got to live with this,” Gray said, later adding: “This hurt me. I’m saddened by it.”
Trisha Loftis, 36, who flew in from Los Angeles with one of her children, 13, called herself grateful for the charges.
Loftis stood across from Lester’s house Monday afternoon, holding signs that said white silence “kills.” She felt connected to Yarl. She used to play clarinet in high school — the same instrument Yarl plays.
“He’s 16; I have twins that are about to be 14,” Loftis said, saying they live on a street that also has similar addresses nearby, meaning her mail can go to the wrong address. “I know how simple it is to make that mistake.”
Loftis felt like traveling to Kansas City was “the least she could do.”
Loftis watched as a car drove up, someone got out and threw eggs at Lester’s home. The yellow of the yoke dropped down his front door.
On the side of the home, it appeared that Lester’s home had been tagged with spray paint.
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