Mo. man who shot teen surrenders
84-year old says he was ‘scared’ as victim recovers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As 16year-old Ralph Yarl struggled to come to grips with being shot for going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, the white Kansas City, Mo., homeowner who shot the Black teenager turned himself in on Tuesday.
Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered at the Clay County Detention Center a day after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Some civil rights leaders urged a hate crime charge but Clay County prosecuting attorney Zachary Thompson said first-degree assault is a higherlevel crime with a longer sentence — up to life in prison.
Meanwhile, Yarl was home recovering from his wounds.
“Ralph is doing considerably well,” his mother, Cleo Nagbe, told “CBS Mornings” cohost Gayle King. “Physically, mornings are hard, but his spirits are in a good place. I borrow from his spirits.”
Nagbe said the trauma remains evident. She said her son is “able to communicate mostly when he feels like it, but mostly he just sits there and stares and the buckets of tears just rolls down his eyes.”
“You can see that he is just replaying the situation over and over again, and that just doesn’t stop my tears either,” she said.
The shooting happened about 10 p.m. on Thursday. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that Yarl’s parents asked him to pick up his twin brothers at a home on 115th Terrace.
Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, mistakenly went to 115th Street — a block away from where he meant to be. When he rang the bell, Lester came to the door and shot Yarl in the forehead — then shot him again, in the right forearm.
Lester faces arraignment Wednesday afternoon. He does not yet have a listed attorney.
Lester told police he lives alone and was “scared to death” when he saw a Black male on the porch and thought someone was trying to break in, according to the probable cause statement.
No words were exchanged before the shooting, but afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.
Yarl ran to “multiple” homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, the statement said.
James Lynch was the neighbor who found Yarl. Lynch didn’t immediately respond to an interview request but his wife, Tiffany, in a brief interview, confirmed an NBC News report that said Lynch heard shouting and saw Yarl banging on the door of another home.
“I heard somebody screaming, ‘Help, help, I’ve been shot!’” Lynch, who is white, told NBC. The father of three ran out and found Yarl covered in blood. Lynch checked his pulse and, when another neighbor came out with towels, helped stem the bleeding until paramedics arrived.
“He just wants the family to know that Ralph wasn’t alone,” Tiffany Lynch said, adding that the action was typical of her husband.
“He helps out anyone he can and always has,” she said.
The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. Civic and political leaders — including President Biden — demanded justice. Biden also invited Yarl to the White House.
“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell,” Biden said on Twitter. “We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence.”
“And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.”
Thompson said Monday there was a “racial component” to the shooting. He did not elaborate. But assistant prosecuting attorney Alexander Higginbotham clarified in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Tuesday that “there is not a racial element to the legal charges that were filed.”
The assault charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Lester also was charged with armed criminal action, which has a penalty range of three to 15 years in prison.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the US Department of Justice was investigating. Messages left with a spokesman were not immediately returned.
By Tuesday morning, a GoFundMe page set up for Yarl had raised $2.9 million from 77,000 donations.