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Kansas City Homeowner Pleads Not Guilty to Assault Charges for Shooting Black Teen Ralph Yarl

HeadlineApr 20, 2023

In Kansas City, Missouri, the white homeowner accused of shooting a Black teenager who rang his doorbell by mistake pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Prosecutors say 84-year-old Andrew Lester exchanged no words with 16-year-old Ralph Yarl before opening fire on him through a glass door, striking him in the chest and head. Yarl had simply gone to the wrong house to pick up his younger twin brothers. On Wednesday, activist and family spokesperson Shaun King published a photo showing Ralph Yarl out of the hospital and posing alongside attorney Lee Merritt. King wrote that Yarl is recovering from a traumatic brain injury and faces a long road to recovery, adding, “Had the bullet hit his head a fraction of an inch in any other direction he would probably be dead right now.”

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