A court set the trial date for next year after the 84-year-old white man accused of shooting a Black adolescent who accidentally entered his Kansas City home on Wednesday submitted a not-guilty plea.
In connection with the killing of Ralph Yarl on April 13, Andrew Lester, a retired aviation mechanic, is accused of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. The trial in the case, which startled the nation and reignited discussions about racial issues in America, was set to start on October 7, 2024.
Some supporters entered the courthouse with Yarl’s mother while wearing “Ringing a doorbell is not a crime” T-shirts that had been turned inside out. They wore the shirts that way on Wednesday, according to family friend Philip Barrolle, after being informed by the court that the shirts were an issue. In the past, supporters have worn them, but a Monday order forbade “outbreaks, signs, or displays of any kind.”
Afterward, Barrolle grumbled, “It is up to us to make our presence felt.”
Lester’s attorney, Steve Salmon, submitted a not-guilty plea on his client’s behalf; the hearing only lasted five minutes. Lester also entered a not-guilty plea shortly after being accused, but this is his first court appearance since the judge determined that there was enough evidence to move the matter forward to trial.
At the preliminary hearing, Salmon claimed that Lester was acting in self-defense because he was alarmed by the visitor who knocked on his door as he was getting ready for bed.
At the hearing, Yarl stated that he was asked to bring up his twin siblings but lacked a phone since he had left it at school. Only a few blocks separated his home from the house he meant to go to, but he was on the wrong street.
Yarl said that he rang the bell and that the time it took for someone to answer seemed “longer than normal.” Yarl claimed he reached out to grab the storm door as the inner door opened, presuming the parents of his brother’s friend were present.
But Lester was the one who told him, “Don’t come here ever again,” Yarl remembered. He claimed that after being shot in the arm, he was also hit in the head, knocking him to the ground.
Dr. Jo Ling Goh, a pediatric neurosurgeon who treated Yarl, testified that the bullet that struck his head left an implanted fragment in his skull. He was able to return to high school because it did not reach his brain. He is currently a senior and is preparing to study engineering in college.