Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Man who shot African-American teen Ralph Yarl at point-blank range in KC faces serious charges

On April 13, a 16-year-old boy named Ralph Yarl, a Kansas City resident, received two bullet wounds, one of them to the head.
Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old African-American, was shot twice by a white man in North Kansas City. Photo: GoFundMe

On April 13, a 16-year-old Kansas City resident named Ralph Yarl was shot twice, one in the head. He had gone to the wrong house when he went to look for his siblings. The attacker, an 84-year-old white man who now faces two felony charges, acted out of racial bias.

That's according to Clay County District Attorney Zachary Thompson on Monday afternoon, detailing that Andrew D. Lester faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, for which an arrest warrant was issued with a bail of $200,000.

Thompson noted that the assault charge is a Class A felony, so if convicted, Lester faces between 10 and 30 months in prison or life in prison.