2023-04-18 03:27:23
UNITED STATES
Charged after shooting black teen who knocked on his door
An 80-year-old man was charged Monday by a Missouri court after fatally shooting a black teenager who knocked on his door by mistake last week.
Published
Image d’illustration.
AFP
Andrew Lester, an 85-year-old white man, has been charged with two felony counts, one of which carries life in prison, the Clay County District Attorney said Monday at a news conference. Zachary Thompson. An arrest warrant has been issued and his bond set at $200,000.
Sixteen-year-old Ralph Paul Yarl, who was shot in the head by the gunman, is recovering “despite the severity of his injuries,” according to one of his family’s lawyers, Lee Merritt, quoted by >.
The teenager was picking up his twin brothers from a friend’s house on April 13 in Kansas City, a large metropolis in Missouri, when he rang the wrong doorbell of a house. His landlord shot the teenager through a glass door, his aunt, Faith Spoonmoore, said. She described Ralph Paul Yarl as a smart, friendly kid with dreams of studying chemical engineering.
“The information we currently have does not say that (the act) was racist, the investigation is still ongoing. But as chief of police, I recognize the racial components of this case,” Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday at a press conference.
This case caused a stir across the country. President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with the teenager Monday, and “shared his hope for a speedy recovery,” the White House said.
Protesters gathered outside the home where the teenager was injured on Sunday and demanded that the shooter be tried for racial crimes, Kansas City radio station KCUR reported. “My heart was completely broken when I learned” the fate of the teenager, had tweeted actress Halle Berry, calling on the prosecutor to act.
Deadly shootings occur regularly in the United States, a country of approximately 330 million people and replete with approximately 400 million firearms.
In upstate New York, authorities said on Monday a 20-year-old woman was shot and killed while driving her car after she mistakenly turned into the driveway of a house. The 65-year-old homeowner, who allegedly fired the shots, was arrested on Monday and charged with non-premeditated murder, the Washington County Sheriff said at a news conference.
(AFP)
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