A Missouri judge has ruled that 84-year-old, Andrew Lester will stand trial for shooting Ralph Yarl, the Black teen who went to the man’s house by mistake while trying to pick up his siblings.
According to the Associated Press, Judge Louis Angles ruled Thursday that there was enough evidence to bind Andrew Lester over on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the April 13 shooting. 911 calls were reportedly played in court today where Lester contacted authorities and admitted to shooting Yarl because he thought he was trying to break into his home. “I shot him. He was at my door trying to get in and I shot him,” Lester said to the dispatcher.
RELATED: Andrew Lester Pleads Not Guilty In The Shooting Of Ralph Yarl
As we previously reported, Lester pleaded not guilty to the charges in April. Yarl also did an interview with GMA and detailed what took place on the night of April 13th. “I go into the driveway I walk up the steps and ring the doorbell and I see three different cameras with one looking at the driveway and looking on the porch. As far as I know I didn’t know their family at all. I never even see their friends or their parents before so maybe it was their house.” He said.
He went on to explain how things went when Andrew Lester opened the door. “I actually waited a long time. I’m just on the porch. So then I hear the door open and I see this old man so I’m assuming oh this must be like their grandpa and then he pulls out his gun and I’m like woah. So then I back up and he points it at me. So I kind of braced and turned my head. Before that I’m thinking there’s no way he’s actually going to shoot. The door isn’t even open he’s going to shoot through his glass and glass is going to get everywhere then it happened, and I’m on the ground.”
“I fall on the glass, the shattered glass”, and “then before I know it, I’m running away, shouting, ’Help me! Help me!’” Yarl was bleeding. He said he wondered how it was possible he had been shot in the head. The man he had never met before said only five words, he said: “Don’t come here ever again.”
We also shared that Yarl was spotted with his family at an annual Memorial Day tradition in Kansas City. According to KMBC, the event is held once a year for people to get together and walk or run to bring awareness to brain injuries.
During the event, Ralph’s mom, Cleo Nagbe spoke with with the news outlet and said, “It’s heartwarming to see this kind of support, I pray the support is not just for Ralph. I pray the support goes a long way for everybody that is in this situation.” She also revealed how her family prepared for the walk and didn’t think it would be as difficult for Ralph but the teenager was overwhelmed by all of the support he was receiving once he attended the event. “It was mostly the anxiety for him,” she said. “Socially it’s still hard for him. So, I’m glad he was able to overcome this. I pray that he will be overcome most of his social hurdles after doing this.”