Photo: Getty Images
Andrew Lester, the Kansas City homeowner who shot Ralph Yarl after he mistakenly went to his house, has avoided trial.
On Friday (February 14), Lester pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in the 2023 shooting of Yarl, a Black teenager who mistakenly rang his doorbell, per USA Today. Lester pled guilty to lesser charges just days before he was set to face trial for two felony counts of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection to the incident.
The plea deal comes after Yarl mistakenly went to the wrong address to pick up his siblings in April 2023. Lester told police that he shot Yarl because he thought the teen was trying to break into his home and he was “scared to death." Yarl said he waited for an extended period of time after ringing the doorbell of the home. Lester eventually opened his door and showed his gun, saying "Don't come here ever again," according to Yarl.
The teen testified that he took his hand off an exterior glass storm door before being shot in the head. Yarl said he fell to the ground and was shot again in the arm.
Yarl survived the shooting but “suffered and sustained permanent injuries, endured pain and suffering of a temporary and permanent nature, experienced disability and losses of normal life activities, was obligated to spend large sums of money for medical and attention and suffered other losses and damages," according to a lawsuit filed by the family.
After taking the plea deal, Lester will avoid trial, which was scheduled to start this month. The second-degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
Lester is set to be sentenced on March 7.
“My emotion is mixed, it’s anger and then it’s thank God it’s going to be over,” Cleo Nagbe, Yarl’s mother, said after Lester pleaded guilty.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.