Last year, a young black teen, Ralph Yarl, was shot in the head after simply ringing the doorbell on the wrong house. Now, his parents are filling a lawsuit against the shooter.
A Terrible and Devastating Death
A sixteen year old boy, Ralph Yarl was shot after ringing the doorbell on the wrong house. The attack happened on April 13, 2023. This all happened due to an innocent mistake that unfortunately got him hospitalized. Ralph was trying to pick up his younger siblings to take them home, however, he rang the doorbell at the wrong home. Just the fact that he rang the doorbell is what caused eighty five year old Andrew Lester to shoot him in the head. Andrew Lester is an old white man who shot a young black boy, which made the public believe this was no accident, and it was instead racially motivated.
Lester was arrested the day of the attack. However, he was released two hours later. It was not until the community demanded justice that he was arrested again about a week later. Lester told the police that he had not talked to the boy at all before he shot him. He claimed to be ‘scared to death’ due to the boy’s size, even though his family states he was only 5 foot 8 inches and was relatively skinny. When the police questioned Ralph, he said all he did was ring the doorbell and stand still waiting for it to be answered when Lester shot him. He explained that Lester fired again on his arm while Ralph was laying on the ground.
Family Suing The Shooter
Thankfully, the teenager survived the shots, but unfortunately might live with permanent brain issues. He had to be hospitalized for a long time and had to pay large amounts of money to cover all the medical expenses. His mother, Cleopatra Nagbe has accused the shooter Andrew Lester of ‘careless and negligent’ conduct. The lawsuit states that Ralph Yarl never once posed a threat to Andrew Lester. The family also blames the Homeowners Association for failing to properly prevent this attack from happening.
Family states that Lester never gave the young boy any sort of warning to back off the property before shooting the boy. Lester was charged with first degree assault, armed criminal action, and a felony. However, he has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to start October 7th. “It’s disheartening that a year has passed without tangible progress or accountability for the grave injustice inflicted upon Ralph,” stated Ralph’s mother Nagbe. There have been no comment from Lester’s attorney at the moment.
Written by Erika P. Cano
Sources:
CNN: Family of Black teen shot in head after ringing doorbell of wrong home sues gunman and HOA
NBC NEWS: Ralph Yarl’s family files a lawsuit against homeowner in wrong-door shooting
Fox 59: Family of Ralph Yarl, Black teen shot after ringing wrong doorbell, files civil lawsuit
Featured image courtesy of Erika Cano
Inset image courtesy of Erika Cano
