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Andrew Lester, the man who shot Black teenager Ralph Yarl after he mistakenly rang his doorbell, has pleaded guilty to second-degree assault.
Lester, then 84 years old, shot Yarl twice in April 2023 when the 16-year-old arrived at his house believing it was where he needed to pick up his siblings. Yarl survived and has since graduated high school. Lester’s case would have gone to trial next week after the court found him mentally capable of proceeding following an evaluation.
Lester was originally facing two felony charges — first-degree assault and armed criminal action — to which he pleaded not guilty. Those charges have now been dropped.
Lester now faces a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. He will be sentenced on March 7, where Yarl and his mother Cleo Nagbe will likely deliver victim impact statements, Fox 4 Kansas City reports.
“We trust in the truth, and we trust in justice,” Yarl and Nagbe said in a statement to Fox 4 following Lester’s plea. “But real change happens when people take a hard look at their own biases and choose to do better. We hope this case sparks conversations that lead to action—because no child should have to suffer.”
Yarl arrived at Lester’s Kansas City home nearly two years ago because he did not have his phone and couldn’t remember the exact address he was given to pick up his twin siblings, the teen previously said in court.
As Lester opened his house’s inner door, Yarl reached for the house’s storm door, thinking the homeowners were his “brothers’ friends’ parents,” he told the court. That’s when Lester shot Yarl in the head, telling the teen, “Don’t come here ever again.” Moments later, he shot Yarl again in the arm.
Afterward, Yarl said he ran to escape “being shot again,” seeking help from neighbors and asking one of them to call the police, according to court documents reviewed by the Kansas City Star.
Lester’s attorney Steve Salmon has long argued his client was acting in self-defense and that Yarl had scared him by ringing his doorbell.
Lester’s home insurance company also settled a lawsuit filed by Nagbe for $100,000 earlier this year, Fox 4 reports.
More to come…
Source: independent.co.uk