White homeowner released on bond in connection with shooting of Kansas City teen Ralph Yarl

N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read
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The 84-year-old white man charged in connection with the shooting of a Black teenager who mistakenly went to his home is out on bond, Kansas City, Missouri officials said Tuesday.

Andrew Lester was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said Monday. Lester later surrendered at the Clay County Detention Center detention center, the Clay County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Twitter. He was released.on $200,000 bond Tuesday afternoon.

Ralph Yarl, 16, is recovering at home after being released from the hospital Sunday. His mother, Cleo Nagbe, told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King he 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.

Charging documents, neighbors explain what happened during the shooting

Yarl, an honor student and all-state band member, was going to pick up his younger brothers Thursday when he went to the wrong address and rang the doorbell, according to a GoFundMe created by Faith Spoonmore, who identified herself as his aunt.

Lester told police he was "scared to death" when he saw a Black male on his porch and thought someone was trying to break in, according to a probable cause statement obtained by the Kansas City Star.

After Yarl was shot in the head and arm, he ran to "multiple homes" asking for help, according to the statement. As he fled he heard Lester yell, “Don’t come around here,” the statement said.

James Lynch told NBC News he heard someone screaming for help, rushed out of his house and found Yarl unconscious and covered in blood outside a neighbor's home.

“No one deserves to lay there like that,” Lynch told the outlet. “He hasn’t even begun to live his life yet. He didn’t deserve to get shot.”

Prosecutor says there was a 'racial component' to the shooting

Lester was detained and released after the shooting, sparking criticism from attorneys Ben Crump and Lee Merritt, who have been retained by Yarl's family.

“The police are not treating this case in the same way Black people accused of murder are treated,” Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. said in a statement. “A Black suspect would have been in jail.”

Thompson acknowledged the community's frustration, and said in Missouri charges have to be filed within 24 hours of an arrest or the suspect must be released.

"In this case, it was clear that additional investigation needed to be done so that the case could be built on a solid foundation," he said.

Thompson said there was a "racial component" to the shooting, but nothing in the charging documents says the shooting was racially motivated. When asked why Lester was not charged with a hate crime, Thompson told reporters hate crimes are lesser felonies which carry a lower range of punishment than the charges Lester is facing.

Experts say the shooting may also reignite the national debate over "Stand Your Ground" laws.

Thompson said Missouri law states "subject to the provisions contained in the statute that a person may use physical force upon another person to the extent he or she reasonably believes such to be necessary to defend himself or herself or third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use of imminent use or unlawful force."

Lester's arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. He does not yet have a listed attorney.

Community, Biden demand justice

About 150 Kansas City community members and the NAACP rallied outside police headquarters on Tuesday, demanding that the U.S. Justice Department investigate and positing that Lester had been treated leniently because he is white.

Bishop Frank Douglas of the Church of God in Christ, said if the shooter had been Black, it would have been "lynching time."

“We are putting a spotlight to what’s been going on for over 100 years," Douglas said. "We got emancipation but we didn’t get love.”

At the site of the shooting, some community members expressed their frustration by vandalizing Lester's . A heart with a "16" – Yarl's age – had been spray painted in black on the side of the house and eggs were splattered on the front windows and the door.

President Joe Biden spoke with Yarl on the phone Monday and invited the teen to the White House when he has recovered, he said on Twitter.

“No parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell,” Biden said. “We’ve got to keep up the fight against gun violence.”

“And Ralph, we’ll see you in the Oval once you feel better.”

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Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Breaking News Reporter N'dea Yancey-Bragg at nyanceybra@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ralph Yarl: White man charged with shooting Black teen surrenders