Ralph Yarl shooting: Accused shooter Andrew Lester pleads not guilty to felony charges

KCUR is winding down this liveblog, but we will continue reporting on Ralph Yarl and the Andrew Lester case in the months ahead.

• You can find to more coverage on KCUR's daily news podcast Kansas City Today and on KCUR.org.
• Subscribe to our morning Early Bird newsletter and our Breaking News emails for the latest updates.
• Tell us how you're feeling: You can text "KCUR" to 816-601-4777 about your thoughts on the Ralph Yarl shooting. How has the handling of the case changed your view of the KCPD or the criminal justice system? What do you want KCUR to report on next?

Legal next steps: Andrew Lester's next court date is scheduled for June 1, 2023, at 1:30 p.m. The Clay County Prosecuting Attorney said the investigation remains active, and they will be "pushing to move this case forward as swiftly as legally permitted." Ralph Yarl's lawyers say that the U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a federal investigation as well, but no charges have been announced there yet.

One more thing: It takes a lot of time, resources and reporters to cover important stories like this one. If you want to support KCUR's journalism, consider becoming a member. Thanks for reading.

Donations are still pouring in from around the country for Ralph Yarl.

On Thursday, April 20 at 7 p.m., Yarl's jazz band will host a benefit concert at Staley High School. Tickets will be sold at the door, and proceeds will go to Yarl’s family or their church.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the GoFundMe set up to support Yarl has raised almost $3.3 million. Yarl's aunt, Faith Spoonmore, wrote in an update that "I've been taking the time to read the emails and comments to Ralph. It warms our hearts to see him smile at all the kind words."

KMBC

Andrew D. Lester — the 84-year-old Kansas City man who shot Ralph Yarl — shuffled up to the bench and acknowledged Clay County Judge Louis Angles’ questions with “OK.”

He appeared slightly confused during the three-minute hearing, and at one point told the judge, “I won’t be staying there,” referring to his Northland home where the shooting took place.

After pleading not guilty to the two felony charges, Lester will remain out on bond and he’s barred from owning a weapon or having contact with Yarl. That directive from Angles seemed to further confuse Lester — he replied, “Got a nephew in prison in Virginia.”

Merritt said he noticed Lester’s confusing-sounding comments, but believes Lester is aware of his actions.

“When the judge asked him to move to one location, he was able to communicate with his attorney,” Merritt said. “There didn't, to me, appear any diminished mental capacity that would explain his actions."

Read the full story from KCUR's Peggy Lowe and Savannah Hawley-Bates.

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson released this statement explaining what's next in their case against Andrew D. Lester:

"Today, an arraignment was held in the case of State of Missouri v. Andrew D. Lester. In Missouri, every defendant is entitled to an initial arraignment where charges are read and a next court date set. In this case, the defendant waived formal reading of the charges and the Court continued the case to June 1, 2023 at 1:30 p.m.

The purpose of this continuance is to allow the defendant’s attorney, who only filed his entry of appearance today, to review the case and for the State to fulfill its statutory and constitutional obligations to provide discovery to the defendant. From this point forward, the State will be pushing to move this case forward as swiftly as legally permitted.

While charges have been filed, this remains an active investigation. We are continuing to work with law enforcement to gather any and all evidence available in this case. If anyone in the community has information that would assist in this case, we ask that you please contact the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department or other law enforcement.

Now that this is an active and pending case, our office is severely limited in the information we can publicly disclose. This is due to our desire to protect the legal integrity of the case and ensure that justice is served for the victim and our community. Despite these restrictions, we will be as transparent as legally permitted and strive to keep the public informed of any developments."

Savannah Hawley-Bates

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KCUR 89.3

Outside the Clay County Courthouse, Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing Yarl's family, told reporters that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting as a hate crime.

“Before I even made it to Kansas City, we reached out to the Department of Justice, myself and my co-counsel Ben Crump, we have some longstanding relationships there," Merritt said. "We thought that this was something the DOJ should be looking into. They are (looking into it). It’s under investigation, they’ve received our complaint and now they’re looking into it.”

Andrew D. Lester, the Kansas City man who is accused of shooting Ralph Yarl, just pleaded not guilty to two felony charges. The Clay County Prosecuting Attorney did not pursue state hate crime charges against him.

“I want him to spend the rest of his life in prison," Merritt said. "All of his assets are going to become Ralph’s."

Merritt criticized the fact that Lester remains out on bond. "We were hoping that maybe the judge would revoke the bond. We want this process to go as quickly as possible, and we know that if a defendant is out on bond, then they feel free to push the date down a little further, as opposed to if he was in custody, they would have the hearings quicker."

Yarl's mom and aunt did not attend the arraignment. Merritt says the family "reached the point of burnout yesterday."

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The 84-year-old Lester, stooped over and using a cane, made his first court appearance this afternoon.

He entered a not guilty plea to two felony charges, first degree assault and armed criminal action, in Clay County court today. The judge also set his next court date for June 1 at 1:30 p.m.

Lester will remain out on bond in the meantime, but under the conditions, he will be barred from owning any type of weapon, must have no contact with Ralph Yarl’s family and his cell phone will be monitored.

KCUR will have more about this developing story soon.

Allison Harris

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KCUR 89.3

KCUR has been hearing a lot from Kansas Citians about the Ralph Yarl shooting. Our community engagement team wants to hear your thoughts to help inform the reporting that KCUR does in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Text "KCUR" to 816-601-4777 and let us know what you're thinking. Here are some topics to consider:

• How has the handling of the case altered your view of the KCPD? How did you feel about them before, and how do you feel now?
• How do you feel the criminal justice system is working?
• How do you feel that race is playing a role in the shooting and in the aftermath?
• What do you want to see from politicians?
• How has KCUR's coverage been so far? What are we missing? Where can we do better?

We want to be clear: All your information will be kept private and will never be sold, and will not be shared without your express permission or request. We'll also never use this texting service to ask you for money. You can read more about texting with KCUR here.

Nearly a week after the shooting of Ralph Yarl — and days after it became front-page news around the world — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has offered his first public comments on the case.

Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris already offered words of support about Yarl over the last few days. Biden personally called Yarl's home on Monday and invited him to the White House when he recovered.

(In an interview with the Kansas City Star on Wednesday, before Parson had commented on the case publicly, the governor criticized Biden for "trying to make a political statement.")

Lawyer Lee Merritt, one of the attorneys who's representing Ralph Yarl and his family, posted a photo this morning of the 16-year-old smiling and sitting outdoors.

Carlos Moreno

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KCUR 89.3

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city will thoroughly review the police department’s decision to initially let Andrew Lester go after he shot Ralph Yarl last Thursday.

"I think we're going to have a pretty thorough review about the steps that that were taken, ways we could always do better in the future," Lucas said in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered. "What I will say is that, thanks in large part to a lot of the public outcry that we heard and the hard work done by detectives, we were very able — quickly able to get charges in. But I think there will be real questions about all of that along the way."

Lucas added that he doesn’t think Yarl would have been shot if he wasn’t Black.

“I say that from experience lived as a Black man in America, as a person in America, and hearing about these stories on your network and others again, and again and again," Lucas said. "It is in the hearts and minds of people. We need to make changes. And then one other change: We cannot just fetishize guns, like, to the end of time. Everybody is told to just — if you're afraid, bring out your gun, brandish it."

Listen the full interview here.

Savannah Hawley-Bates

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KCUR 89.3

Andrew Lester, the man who shot Ralph Yarl last Thursday, will appear in court for the first time this afternoon. His arraignment is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. at the Clay County courthouse, 11 S. Water Street, Liberty.

He’ll be formally read the charges against him — two felonies — and will enter his plea. The judge will also set Lester’s next court date.

The Clay County Prosecuting Attorney filed charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Lester faces up to life in prison if convicted. However, the prosecutor did not file hate crime charges against Lester, despite many calls to do so, because he said those charges carry a lower range of penalties than the two felonies.

Still, protesters and local officials have called on prosecutors and even wrote to the U.S. Attorney requesting a hate crime investigation.

Lester surrendered himself to Clay County officials yesterday and was released after paying a $20,000 bond cash alternative.

Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga

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Hundreds of protesters descended upon the Charles Evans Whittaker Federal Courthouse in downtown Kansas City on Tuesday afternoon.

Protesters said law enforcement’s handling of the shooting showed a double standard in the criminal justice system.

“The fetishization of crime and punishment is why the white vigilante is someone who can actively punish Black people and be rewarded for it,” said Simon Connor, an 18-year-old Rockhurst High School senior who led a group of his classmates in protest.

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“There was no excuse for him to shoot through a door and then come stand over his body and shoot him again," said Shawn McGuire, 31, a Black man and lifelong Kansas Citian. "His goal was to murder this Black kid, which is a hate crime.”

Read KCUR's full story here.

News

Protesters rally in downtown Kansas City to demand justice for Ralph Yarl

Lawrence Brooks IV

And you can hear sounds and voices from the protest, plus the latest developments in the case, on this morning's episode of Kansas City Today.

Laura Ziegler

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KCUR

Texas civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Ralph Yarl’s family, met with Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson on Tuesday afternoon and later spoke at a protest at the federal courthouse downtown.

Andrew Lester faces felony charges of assault and armed criminal action. Merritt said his arraignment will be Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Merritt told protesters the fact that Lester was only detained for a few hours the night of the shooting, rather than the full 24 hours he could have been legally held without charges, is evidence prosecutors weren’t taking the case seriously.

“They said they could not hold Andrew Lester for more than 24 hours. That's true, under the law. So hold him for 24 hours,” Merritt said.

“If they would've held him for 24 hours — and this is what we spoke to the prosecutor about, and the officers who were there — if they would've held him for 24 hours, they would've held him long enough to get the statement from the kid with a bullet in his brain.”

Yarl gave an initial statement to police Friday. Had Lester been held the full 24 hours by police, Merritt says there would have been an opportunity to make an arrest while he was in custody.

Merritt also said he was disappointed after pressing Thompson to expand on his statement that there was a “racial aspect” to this case.

“And he said he was just echoing the words from law enforcement that obviously there's a racial dynamic at play in this case, and that was a little bit too shallow,” Merritt said.

Merritt said race is at the core of this case.

“Ralph Yarl was shot because he was armed with nothing, other than his Black skin,” Merritt said. “Should that qualify as a hate crime? We think so. But … that kind of Missouri statute doesn't exist. So I think it's appropriate that we're in front of the federal courthouse because we need new legislation to protect Blackness in this country because Blackness is under attack.”

Melissa Robinson, a Kansas City Council member representing the 3rd District, says that her office sent a letter to the U.S. District Attorney asking for a hate crime investigation into the shooting of Ralph Yarl.

Yesterday, Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson acknowledged "there was a racial component to the case," but said his office did not file hate crime charges because in Missouri, they carry a lower range of punishment than the other felonies being pursued.

"All of our residents deserve a city council and deserve a city in which we will ask the tough questions about how this was investigated, that we will ask the tough questions about where to we go from here," Robinson says.

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KCUR 89.3

Missouri’s Stand Your Ground law went into effect in 2016, built on the traditions of the “castle doctrine” — a collection of statutes that protect a person's right to use force to defend their property.

Some observers suggested the law might come into play in the defense of Andrew D. Lester, now charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action for shooting Ralph Yarl twice after Yarl mistakenly rang his doorbell looking for his younger brothers.

“Stand your ground doesn’t come into play unless the person is attacking you. There’s been nothing that indicates the young man was threatening the older gentleman,” said Kevin Jamison, a Kansas City attorney who has been practicing for more than 40 years.

“The stand your ground law is raised as a possible defense, even when it has no possible relevance to the situation," Jamison added. "And the case we're currently hearing about in Clay County here: It has no relevance.”

Read more here.

The press conference is being punctuated with calls for “local control.”

Kansas City is unique in that the city does not actually have control over its own police department. That’s important context for understanding some of the criticisms over how the department is handling the Ralph Yarl case.

Unlike any other police department of its size in the country, the KCPD has been kept under the control of the state of Missouri for the last half-century, through a five-member Board of Police Commissioners.

The majority of those members have been appointed by a Republican governor (and are not required to live in Kansas City), while the Kansas City mayor is the fifth member. Functionally, that means the sole elected local official on the board is often outvoted in all decisions.

The state control system was first established by Missouri’s Confederate governor on the eve of the Civil War.

The police board members hire the chief of police, but also make important decisions over how the department spends its budget — which, thanks to a state constitutional amendment approved by a majority of Missouri this fall, is required to be 25% of the city general fund. Kansas City was the only police department affected by that amendment.

The Urban League of Greater Kansas City is suing the Police Board, saying it’s violating the rights of city taxpayers and African American residents.

Missouri NAACP president Nimrod Chapel Jr. mentioned at Tuesday's news conference that in 2017, the organization actually invoked its first-ever travel advisory for people of color coming through the state: “Your level of justice is less than everyone else.”

That travel advisory came in response to a state law that made discrimination lawsuits harder to win, exempting state employees from whistleblower laws and limiting monetary damages.

Here is what Chapel told NPR at the time:

"We're very concerned that unless we did something, people might come into the state thinking that they would have civil rights protections that, in fact, they do not. The purpose of the travel advisory was just to allow people to make informed decisions about where they want to be."

“People like Lester have been killing us all along,” Chapel said on Tuesday. “This is not new.”

KSHB

“A charge does not mean justice,” says Rev. Dr. Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, at a news conference in front of the courthouse in downtown.

“There is nothing the justice system can do to repair what Ralph Yarl has lost," Howard said. "Therefore, what is real justice? I’m glad you asked. That never again! never again! never again! never again! never again, in the name of Jesus Christ, will hate and racism take away the health and beauty and future of a Black child.”

Other groups attending the press conference are the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, the Missouri NAACP, Decarcerate KC and the Urban Summit.

Watch the conference below, courtesy of KSHB:

KCUR has confirmed that Andrew D. Lester has bonded out of jail.

Lester managed to post the $20,000 cash alternative, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Under the bond conditions, he will be barred from owning any type of weapon, must have no contact with Ralph Yarl’s family and his cell phone will be monitored.

Yarl's family is expected to be meeting with the Clay County Prosecutor's Office in Liberty, Missouri, this afternoon to discuss the case.

Clay County Sheriff

Now that Andrew D. Lester, the Kansas City man charged with shooting Ralph Yarl, has been booked into the Clay County Jail, we have details about his bond.

The bond is set at $200,000, but Lester does have a 10% cash alternative, according to online court records.

If he can post $20,000, Lester would be released under a few conditions: He will be barred from owning any type of weapon, must have no contact with Ralph Yarl’s family and his cell phone would be monitored.

"We love you, Ralph."

At Staley High School, where Ralph Yarl is a junior, about 1,500 students took part in a unity walk for their classmate this morning. KSHB 41 News was there to capture the moment as the students walked around the campus.

KCUR previously reported on how Yarl is a marching band section leader and recently won Missouri All-Star Band recognition. At the unity walk, KSHB talked to a fellow Staley junior, Eliana, who's played music with Yarl since they were in sixth grade. "I love getting to talk to him about the clarinet, about reeds and music in general."

President Joe Biden says he called Ralph Yarl last night — and extended him an invite to the White House once he recovers.

One notable politician who hasn't said anything publicly about Yarl? Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

Carlos Moreno

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KCUR 89.3

Missouri Democratic Rep. Jamie Johnson, the first African American to represent Platte County in the state legislature, organized doorbell campaigns throughout the metro to build support for her successful 2022 campaign.

“I brought someone with me at all times,” Johnson said, recalling the months she spent campaigning in the Northland. “And a lot of volunteers wouldn't let me go to certain neighborhoods without them.”

Her family has lived north of the river since they were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

“But I want to make sure that people understand that, for the most part — I've been in the Northland now for almost 18 years — and this community has been welcoming since I came here,” she said.

Johnson said workers of color in delivery services in the Northland have to use their intuition when entering certain neighborhoods.

“If it doesn't feel safe, don't do it. That's kind of what I did with canvassing,” said Johnson. “We can't complain about a culture of fear if we are fearful within ourselves. So do your job and do it to the best of your ability, but remain safe while doing it.”

KC Tenants organizer and Kansas City Council candidate Jenay Manley’s Northland canvassing is ongoing — the lifelong Northland resident is a current Kansas City Council candidate.

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KCUR

She said the incident won’t deter their efforts, which started in January.

“Ralph is from that neighborhood, and ignoring the people who live in these neighborhoods will not make things better,” Manley said.

“We have to build better communities, especially with poor and working class Black and brown people who live there,” she said. “No child should be afraid to knock on a neighbor's door for help. That should not be the Kansas city we live in.”

Andrew Lester is in custody at the Clay County Detention Center, according to a press release from the Kansas City Police Department.

The Clay County Sheriff's Office says that Lester surrendered himself.

Kansas City Police

Social justice advocate Justice Gaston is calling for Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves to resign as 84-year-old Andrew D. Lester is still not in police custody.

Graves told a reporter on Sunday that the KCPD was not concerned that the then-unnamed suspect was a flight risk. As of this morning, Lester still hasn’t been arrested or booked into the Clay County Detention Center.

Gaston, founder and director of Reale Justice Network in Kansas City, told KCUR’s Up to Date that Graves has responded to the situation “horribly,” in part, because of her slow response time to connect with families.

"She has a disconnect with the community overall,” Gaston said. “There are lots of things that she needs to work on. I daresay she needs to go.”

Graves just took the position of KCPD chief in December. A 25-year veteran of the department, Graves is the first woman to hold the position in a permanent role, but the hiring process was highly criticized for lacking transparency and community input.

Pastor Darron LaMonte Edwards announced Monday evening that a press conference planned for Tuesday at noon is canceled.

"Believing that our collective influence was wielded effectively behind the scenes, there will NOT be a press conference on Tuesday, April 18 at noon," he wrote in a statement. "We will still meet with the Clay County Prosecutor and their law enforcement to discuss forward action and continued healing."

A group of civil rights organizations including the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, the Southern Christian Leadership Council-KC, the Missouri NAACP, Decarcerate KC and the Urban Summit will hold a press conference and rally in front of the federal courthouse at 400 E. 9th Street at 4 p.m.

"This tragic shooting nearly cost Ralph Yarl his life, and the person who committed this act, was swiftly released from custody and back into the community within mere hours and without transparency from law enforcement," Mark H. Morial of the National Urban League and Gwendolyn Grant of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City wrote in a joint statement. "Although there is nothing that anyone can do to reverse the pain and trauma that was felt by the Yarl family, they deserve transparency from law enforcement and the prosecution to ensure that the shooter will be held accountable, and justice will be served."

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Clay County issued an arrest warrant Monday for Andrew D. Lester, the Northland man who admitted to shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, according to Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson.

But as of this morning, Lester still hasn’t been arrested nor booked into the Clay County Detention Center.

That has angered the many social justice activists who are advocating for the Yarl family. Justice Gaston, founder and director of Reale Justice Network in Kansas City, said the organization demands Lester be arrested immediately.

“Acknowledge that something has happened here and make the appropriate decision,” Gatson told KCUR Tuesday. “Had it been any one of us — and I mean any other Black person — we would have been arrested that night, we would have had to deal with what we had done.”

Typically, after a warrant is issued, the suspect is arrested, charged and — within about a day’s time — they appear before a judge to be arraigned. The judge then decides if bond is allowed and sets the dollar amount. The next hearing is often scheduled, too.

That’s why it seemed odd that during Thompson’s press conference late Monday, he announced that a warrant for Lester had been issued and that bond had been set at $200,000. Prosecutors don't usually set that figure.

On Tuesday, the prosecutor’s spokesman, Alexander Higginbotham said: “My understanding is that Mr. Lester is not currently in the Clay County Jail. I have no further information regarding when he will appear in court.”

The Kansas City Police Department didn’t respond to questions about Lester’s whereabouts or whether he was allowed to travel out of state after he was released following his interview after the shooting on Thursday.

“We don’t have any updated information that he is in custody,” said KCPD Sgt. Jake Becchina. “We would love to report to you that he is in custody at either our facility or Clay County and as soon as he is we will do so.”

On Sunday, when KCPD Chief Stacey Graves first addressed the Yarl case, she was asked by a reporter if the then-unnamed suspect was a flight risk.

“No, that’s not a concern,” Graves said. She added that he was cooperating with police and they had taken that risk into consideration. She stressed that they needed more time to prepare the case.

“That is something we look at,” she said of the flight risk. “But obviously, even in this situation, there is more that we need to glean from that incident to put that together for a prosecutorial review.”

CBS

In an interview Tuesday with CBS Mornings, Ralph Yarl’s mother Cleo Nagbe says “Ralph is doing considerably well. Physically, mornings are hard, but his spirits are in a good place.”

Yarl was released from the hospital on Saturday, two days after being shot in Kansas City’s Northland. Prosecutors on Monday charged 84-year-old Andrew D. Lester with two felonies for shooting Yarl through the glass door when he arrived at the wrong house.

Yarl was shot on top of his left eye, and again in the upper right arm. He had the bullet in his head for nearly 12 hours before it was taken out, and Nagbe says the "residual effects" will last a long time.

“He’s surrounded by a team of medical professionals,” Nagbe says.

Nagbe also says that President Joe Biden called Yarl on Monday.

Lawyer Lee Merritt says they are talking with Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson about the case — and why prosecutors are not pursing attempted murder and hate crime charges.

Watch the full interview here.

Kansas City Police Department

A probable cause statement released by the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney’s office sheds more detail on what happened the night of April 13.

Kansas City police first spoke with Andrew Lester at 11:22 p.m., after he was transported to police headquarters.

Lester told police he had just laid down in bed when he heard the doorbell ring. He said he picked up his gun before answering the door. Lester told police he opened an interior main door and saw a Black male pulling on the storm door handle. He said he believed someone was trying to break into the house and shot twice through the storm door.

After taking his statement, police transported Lester to KCPD East Patrol where he was booked, photographed and fingerprinted. After consulting with the Clay County Prosecutor, police released Lester pending further investigation.

According to the probable cause statement, Kansas City Police spoke to Yarl on Friday at the hospital, where he made a brief statement.

Yarl said he was told by his mother to respond to 1100 NE 115th Street to pick up his brothers. The actual address was 1100 NE 115th Terrace.

According to the statement, Yarl “stated he parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door. He stated he pressed the doorbell and waited outside the front door.”

Yarl said he did not pull on the door handle, as Lester alleged. Yarl said a man finally opened the door holding a firearm. He stated he was immediately shot in the head and fell to the ground, and then shot again in the arm while he was on the ground.

Yarl also told police that the man inside the house said “don’t come around here.”

On Monday, detectives attempted to contact Yarl’s family for an interview, but were not able to make contact.

Lee Merritt, one of the civil rights lawyers representing Ralph Yarl's family, said in a statement that they are "relieved that charges are finally moving forward."

However, Merritt said that the family is "disappointed in the delay that necessitated national outcry for an obvious crime. We are cautiously optimistic about accountability and justice."

Merritt confirms that Yarl was released from the hospital on Saturday in stable condition. But he also pushed back on the explanations from Kansas City Police leaders about why the charges against Yarl's shooter — who was identified today as Andrew D. Lester — were not forwarded sooner to the county prosecutor.

The Clay County Prosecutor's office announced it will bring felony charges against Andrew D. Lester, an 84-year-old white man, for the shooting of Ralph Yarl, who is Black. A warrant has been issued for Lester's arrest. Bond is set at $200,000.

News

White Kansas City man charged with 2 felonies for shooting Black teen Ralph Yarl

Peggy Lowe

Lester is charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson says that evidence shows that Lester shot Yarl in the arm and head, through a glass door. Thompsons says the probable cause statement reflects that Yarl did "not cross the threshold" of Lester's house, and does not indicate that any words were exchanged during the incident.

The assault charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Thompson says "there was a racial component to the case," but hate crimes in Missouri carry a lower range of punishment than the defendant is currently charged with.

Thompson says he has no information about Lester's current whereabouts.

KSHB

Carlos Moreno

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KCUR 89.3

The house in the 1100 block of 115th Street in the Northland where an as-yet unnamed resident shot Ralph Yarl appears to have been tagged with graffiti. People were gathering on the street near the home on Monday afternoon.

James Everhart, who lives three doors down from the house where the shooting occurred, said he doesn't think race played a role in the shooting.

"There ain't no race to this story," he said. "The seemingly hate activists who show up and protest only divide people."

Everhart said the person shot Yarl because "the guy was scared."

Many others say race had to be a factor. The African Methodist Episcopal Church Ministerial Alliance of the Midwest Conference released a statement referencing other well-known killings of Black boys.

"Ralph Yarl, an honor high school student is fighting for his life because he was picking up his brothers from a party, whose only crime was ringing the wrong doorbell! At what point do we admit that the color of fear is always black?" the group wrote. "In these moments, we remember that Emmett Till was just a little boy. Trayvon Martin was just a little boy. Tamir Rice was just a little boy."

The Kansas City Police Department has not released demographic information about the shooter.

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson will be holding a press conference about the Ralph Yarl case at 5 p.m. today at the Clay County Courthouse.

KCUR will provide live updates here. Watch below via KSHB.

Kansas City Police say they have submitted an investigative case file on the Ralph Yarl shooting to the Clay County Prosecutor's Office "for their review for charges."

Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said they had been waiting on that referral. Police Chief Stacey Graves was widely criticized after saying that police needed a statement from the victim, and to gather more forensic evidence, before sending along that case file.

“The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released, pending further investigation. In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile,” Graves said. “We recognize the frustration this can cause in the entire criminal justice process.”

"As always, it is our mission to ensure that justice is fully pursued and that the rights of all people in Clay County are protected and upheld by law," Thompson wrote in a Monday morning press release. "We understand how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working."

Carlos Moreno

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KCUR 89.3

The Ralph Yarl shooting has drawn renewed scrutiny of "Stand Your Ground" laws, which may play a part in the shooter's defense if they face charges.

Missouri passed a “Stand Your Ground” bill in 2016 — an expansion of the state's "castle doctrine." Under the law, a person may use physical force if they reasonably believe they are under threat and have no duty to retreat.

It also specifies: "A person does not have a duty to retreat from a dwelling, residence, or vehicle where the person is not unlawfully entering or unlawfully remaining" or "from private property that is owned or leased by such individual."

According to a study released last year, homicides drastically rose in Missouri after the law was enacted — a 31% jump from 1999 through 2017. That is far higher than the national average. (During the same period, gun homicides rose 27% in Kansas, which has a similar law.)

“These findings suggest that adoption of SYG laws across the U.S. was associated with increases in violent deaths, deaths that could potentially have been avoided,” the study’s authors wrote.

On Monday afternoon, a collection of faith leaders from the African Methodist Episcopal Church Ministerial Alliance of the Midwest released a statement calling for the "systematic dismantling" of Missouri's "Stand Your Ground" law.

Missouri also has a controversial gun law called the "Second Amendment Preservation Act" that allows citizens to file lawsuits of up to $50,000 if they feel any enforcement of federal gun laws violates their constitutional rights. A federal judge struck down the law as unconstitutional last month, but it remains in effect while Missouri appeals the decision.

Several celebrities, including Halle Berry, Kerry Washington and Jennifer Hudson, have condemned Yarl’s shooting on social media and called for charges against the shooter.

The Brady campaign, a national advocacy group pushing for stricter gun laws, said Yarl’s shooting and the shooting deaths of four children at an Alabama birthday party were, in part, a result of “lax gun laws, Second Amendment extremism, and systemic racism.”

“The Second Amendment does not protect the right to shoot a child for ringing a doorbell, nor was it designed to turn a birthday party into a war zone,” Brady president Kris Brown said in a statement. “Black children have the right not to be shot.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is the highest-profile figure to comment on the shooting of Ralph Yarl in Kansas City.

"Let's be clear: No child should ever live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell," Harris wrote on Monday afternoon.

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GoFundMe

A GoFundMe fundraiser to support Ralph Yarl has raised more than $1.6 million, as of Monday afternoon. His aunt Faith Spoonmore started the fundraiser on Sunday to cover medical bills and therapy expenses.

“Life looks a lot different right now. Even though he is doing well physically, he has a long road ahead mentally and emotionally,” Spoonmore wrote on the fundraiser page. “The trauma that he has to endure and survive is unimaginable.”

Any additional funds will be used for college expenses and a trip to West Africa, Spoonmore wrote on the page. Yarl’s goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in chemical engineering, and he was looking forward to visiting West Africa before starting college.

The first protest organized by The People's Coalition was held outside the house where Ralph Yarl was shot in the Northland.

The next protest they're planning will be outside the Kansas City Police Department headquarters, demanding that police arrest and indict the shooter.

A press conference is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, with a rally following at 5 p.m.

Activists criticized the KCPD for allowing the shooter to be released from custody — and they believe the shooter left town afterwards.

“I need them to hold him accountable, he needs to be prosecuted,” said organizer Dee Porter on Sunday night. “This is a child. He didn't appear scary to me. Something has to be done because (Yarl) posed no threat. He should not be allowed to sit in his home and take a vacation. I heard he's in a cabin somewhere, but he needs to be prosecuted.”

North Kansas City Schools, where Yarl was a junior at Staley High, will be holding a unity walk on April 18 at 10:30 a.m. Students are also trying to collect 1,000 cards in support of their classmate.

"With his fellow members of the Falcon Brigade band playing, students will lock arms as they walk around the school in a circle," said superintendent Dan Clemens in a press release. "Many students will be wearing blue, Ralph’s favorite color. This display of unity is intended to support Ralph in his recovery and have a positive impact on the community."

Meanwhile, people across the country are urging each other to contact Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson to demand he pursue charges. On Monday morning, Thompson released a statement saying that his office has not received a criminal referral yet from the KCPD. "We understanding how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working," Thompson wrote. "As with any serious case submitted to our office, we will approach this case in an objective and impartial manner."

The load of traffic actually crashed the phone system in Clay County.

Police have not released the name, gender or race of the person who shot Yarl on Thursday. The person was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold, according to police. Detectives processed the scene and recovered the firearm. The shooter was released after the hold.

The office of Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson said it has received substantial public feedback about the Yarl shooting — Clay County's phone system went down this afternoon because of a wave of calls from across the country — but the prosecutor's office has not yet received a criminal referral from the Kansas City Police Department.

“We want to assure the public that our office understands the public interest in this case and is working as expeditiously as possible to address the matter,” Thompson’s office said in a statement. “We understand how frustrating this has been, but we can assure the public that the system is working.”

Ben Crump, the Tallahassee-based lawyer who represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, George Floyd and Tyre Nichols, and Lee Merritt, who represented Atatiana Jefferson and Ahmaud Arbery’s families and is currently running for Texas Attorney General, called the Thursday shooting “horrendous and unjustified” in a statement released Sunday.

“There can be no excuse for the release of this armed and dangerous suspect after admitting to shooting an unarmed, non-threatening and defenseless teenager that rang his doorbell!” the attorneys wrote.

Ralph Yarl, a junior at Staley High School, is a talented musician who can often be found with an instrument in hand, family and community members say.

Yarl’s family described him as a quiet, kind soul who loves music, according to a GoFundMe by his aunt Faith Spoonmore. He is section leader in his school’s marching band and is also in its jazz and competition band. Yarl recently earned Missouri All-State Band recognition and plays multiple instruments in the metropolitan youth orchestra.

His family noted that he is also a member of the Technology Student Association and Science Olympiad Team. Spoonmore wrote that her nephew’s goal is to attend Texas A&M to major in Chemical Engineering. “When asked how he plans to get into this university, he said, ‘Well, if they have a scholarship for music or academics, I know I can get it,’” Spoonmore said.

North Kansas City Schools Superintendent Dan Clemens said in a statement that the district is “devastated” to learn about the shooting.

“Ralph is an excellent student and talented musician. He maintains a stellar GPA while taking mostly college level courses,” Clemens said. “While he loves science and hopes to pursue that career path, his passion is music. Thankfully, we know he is now recovering alongside family.”

Savannah Hawley-Bates

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KCUR 89.3

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday night on NE 115th Street in Kansas City’s Northland to protest the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl last week. As they stood in front of the house where he was shot, protestors chanted for justice and demanded prosecution of the shooter for what they called a hate crime.

Late on April 13, Yarl was reportedly on his way to pick up his twin brothers from a friend's house and arrived at the wrong address, about a block away. According to a GoFundMe by his aunt Faith Spoonmore, after Yarl rang the doorbell at the wrong address, the resident of the home shot him in the head through a glass door, and shot him again after he fell to the ground.

Yarl was transported to a hospital for his injuries, which were described as life-threatening. As of Monday afternoon, Yarl has reported been released from the hospital.

Police say the resident of the home — who has not yet been identified — was taken into custody and placed on a 24-hour hold. Detectives processed the scene and recovered the firearm, and then released the shooter. Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said that KCPD were not concerned that the shooter was a flight risk.

No charges have yet to be filed — Graves said police needed a statement from the victim before they could proceed.

But Justice Gatson, founder and director of Reale Justice Network, said Yarl’s case is proof that law enforcement doesn’t adequately protect Black people.

“We cannot and we will not be silent when Black children are under attack,” Gatson said. “As a mother of three children, this enrages me. My son delivers food every morning. And sometimes you go to the wrong address. You should never have to worry that your life will be taken.”

Read the full story by Savannah Hawley-Bates.