Authorities have introduced costs towards a Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, man accused of taking pictures a 16-year-old Black teen who had mistakenly gone to the person’s residence to choose up his youthful siblings.
Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson mentioned at a Monday information convention that he’s filed two felony counts towards Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man: assault within the first diploma and armed prison motion. The announcement got here lower than an hour after Kansas Metropolis police mentioned they submitted their investigation to the prosecutor’s workplace for overview.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Lester, with bond set at $200,000.
Lester twice shot Ralph Yarl, within the head and arm, on Thursday evening after the highschool junior rang his doorbell, mistakenly pondering he was on the home the place he was supposed to choose up his twin youthful brothers.
In keeping with the possible trigger assertion, Lester shot his .32-caliber revolver by means of the glass of his entrance door. Yarl by no means entered the house, and there have been no phrases exchanged between the 2. There's additionally no video of the taking pictures, based on Thompson.
Officers responding to a 911 name on Thursday discovered Yarl in entrance of a close-by residence, based on the possible trigger assertion. A witness instructed police they heard Yarl screaming that he was shot after Lester fired his gun.
“The witness noticed him knock on neighbors’ doorways asking for assist. The witness didn't see the taking pictures,” the assertion mentioned, confirming an earlier assertion by Yarl’s aunt that the teenager visited a number of houses within the neighborhood earlier than somebody lastly helped him.
Yarl was launched from the hospital on Sunday and is being cared for at residence by his household, based on the Kansas Metropolis Star.
“Though he's doing properly bodily, he has an extended highway forward mentally and emotionally,” his aunt, Religion Spoonmore, mentioned on the household’s GoFundMe web page for Yarl. “The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable.”
Crump mentioned Yarl continues to be fighting stress from the ordeal however he and his household are joyful he's alive after being shot within the head. As a result of Yarl is younger and robust, he mentioned, they hope for a full restoration.
Thompson mentioned he thinks there “was a racial element” within the taking pictures.
“In Clay County, we implement the legal guidelines and we comply with the legal guidelines,” he mentioned. “That doesn't matter the place you come from, what you appear like, [or] how a lot cash you have got.”
Yarl’s household has retained famed civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who mentioned earlier than the information convention that it “is inescapable to not acknowledge the racial dynamics at play.”
Thompson mentioned that he determined towards charging Lester with tried homicide as a result of beneath Missouri legislation, first-degree assault carries an extended punishment. If Lester is convicted of that cost, he may face 30 years to life. The second cost may convey a sentence of three to fifteen years.
CORRECTION: An earlier model of this story mentioned Ralph Yarl was killed. He was severely wounded within the taking pictures. A earlier model of this story additionally incorrectly listed Lester’s age as 85.
Post a Comment