By Last Thursday night, while attempting to pick up his twin brothers from a friend’s house nearby, Ralph Paul Yarl, 16, rang the wrong doorbell and was shot twice, once in the head. He was critically injured as a result.
As it was reported that the homeowner had been freed without being charged after spending 24 hours in custody, outrage over the issue continued to grow throughout the weekend.
On the other hand, the homeowner, named Andrew Lester, 85, was charged on Monday with one count of first-degree felony assault and one count of armed criminal action, which is also a felony, according to Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson. His $200,000 bail was imposed.
In a GoFundMe page, the boy’s aunt, Faith Spoonmoore, said that her nephew was a talented student who had aspirations of majoring in chemical engineering.
In the United States, a nation of around 330 million people with an estimated 400 million guns, deadly shootings occur frequently.
Yet Yarl’s case has drawn particular attention as the country continues to struggle with a long history of violence against African Americans going unpunished.
President Joe Biden called Yarl on the phone Monday night, the White House reported, “and offered his optimism for a fast recovery.”
At a press conference on Sunday evening, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves stated that the intelligence at the time “does not imply that it’s racially motivated, that’s still an active investigation.”
Yet I am aware of the racial aspects of this case as the police chief. I do acknowledge and comprehend the community’s worry.
Even though the shooting victim from New York State did not live, charges were also filed on Monday in a related case there.
A 20-year-old woman named Kaylin Gillis was tragically shot by a homeowner on Saturday night after she and three other people arrived to the incorrect location while looking for a friend’s house, according to police in the state of New York.
The subject walked out onto his porch for whatever reason and fired two rounds, one of which impacted the vehicle that they were departing after realizing they were at the wrong place, Kaylin was in,” said Jeffrey Murphy, the sheriff of Washington County, where the shooting took place.
