The Black teen was shot after he went to the wrong home to pick up his siblings.
Lester will now face two felony charges: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action.
The Clay County prosecutor said there was a racial component in the case, but did not elaborate.
Those who live in the neighborhood, like Karen Allman, said they are still shocked by the incident. She said, “It’s a strange world we live in when we’re scared to death of our neighbors.”
For 32 years, Allman has lived on 115th Street. Her house is a few doors down from where Ralph Yarl was shot.
“This neighborhood has always been a very quiet neighborhood,” Allman said. “If you’re that scared at 10:30 at night, why did you open the door?”
She said she’s still shocked about what happened just up the street. “The fact that you open the door and then shoot the person on the other side? And it’s a kid.”
The home of 84-year-old Andrew Lester is now tagged with graffiti and eggs. It has drawn dozens of people as they learn more about what happened, like Trisha Lofits and her daughter Ashlyn.
“I felt compelled to come, have my feet on the ground out here,” Trisha explained. “We came from L.A. to Kansas City to just show support and see how we could be involved, advocating for justice. And, um, is advocating for what we feel is right as humans.”
For now, the once-quiet neighborhood will remain on edge as the community waits for answers and accountability.
“I just it, it still even today is complete shock that anybody would do that,” Allman said. “I think we need to keep speaking about it. This isn’t going to go away if we don’t talk about it and have a dialogue.”
Lester was taken into custody on April 13th but was released just two hours later. His current whereabouts are unknown at this time.
If convicted, he could spend life in prison.
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