The elderly white man accused of murdering black teenager Ralph Yarl twice turned himself in and was released on $200,000 bond.
On Tuesday afternoon, 84-year-old Andrew Lester surrendered at the Clay County Detention Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
To post bail, he put up $10,000 of the required $200,000.
After his release from jail, Lester will be prohibited from having firearms or contacting Yarl. This is a prerequisite for his release.
The former aviation mechanic faces life in prison after being accused with first-degree assault and armed criminal activity.
A block away from where his younger twin brothers were waiting to be picked up, 16-year-old Yarl was shot twice through the door of Lester’s house.
Hours after the April 14 incident, the suspect was apprehended and then released. He told police he was “scared to death” when he spotted Yarl at his door.
As the prosecutor for Clay County, I can tell you that the case had a racist aspect,” stated Clay County’s attorney Zachary Thompson.To maintain credibility, I choose not to discuss specifics of the issue at this time.
Stacey Graves, the police chief of Kansas City, Missouri, also noted the presence of “racial components” in this investigation.
Kansas City’s mayor, Quinton Lucas, has claimed that Ralph was targeted and killed because of his race and the fact that he was still alive.
He “shared the outrage” of Kansas City residents over the lack of action, he said on CNN.
It would be absurd, he argued, to “stuff your head in the sand and pretend that race has nothing to do with this.”
“He was black and alive, and that’s why he was shot to death.” In addition, he knocked on the door of a person who made it quite evident that they had a racial prejudice against black people.
I believe it’s quite obvious what’s meant by “black boys, black children,” and I pray that the message doesn’t get lost in translation. I, like many other black folks and parents, am afraid to answer the phone for fear of being shot. So, uh, what then?
Someone walked up to a door and fired a gun through it, and that’s simply the way life is. Many times over, in fact. That’s the really terrifying part.
That’s why I’m encouraged by this initial move toward justice, and why it’s important for everyone involved to examine their own roles in this process and brainstorm ways to improve.