2023-04-18 21:02:15
This case caused a stir in the United States and demonstrations took place this weekend in Kansas City, where the facts took place, to demand justice. An octogenarian was charged Monday, April 17 by the justice of Missouri, after having seriously injured by bullets last week a black teenager who had knocked on his door by mistake, announced the local prosecutor.
The 16-year-old was picking up his brothers from a friend’s house on April 13 in Kansas City, a large metropolis in Missouri, when he rang the wrong doorbell of a house. Her owner, Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man, shot Ralph Paul Yarl through a glass door, the victim’s aunt, Faith Spoonmoore, said. She described her nephew as an intelligent and sympathetic young man, a music lover, dreaming of studying chemical engineering.
Andrew Lester has been criminally charged with two counts, one of which carries a life sentence, Clay County District Attorney Zachary Thompson said. “There is a racial component to this case”he said in a press conference.
For the Mayor of Kansas City, “to pretend that the [composante] race does not enter into this situation would be tantamount to putting an ostrich in the. L’adolescent a “knocked on the door of someone who is clearly afraid of black people”Quinton Lucas said Tuesday on CNN, saying he hoped that this would be taken into account by justice.
Ralph Paul Yarl, shot in the head, recovers “despite the severity of his injuries”according to a statement from family lawyers, including the famous Benjamin Crumpspecializing in the defense of African Americans.
United States President Joe Biden spoke on the phone with the teenager on Monday and “shared his hope to see him recover quickly”said the White House.
“My heart has completely broken”
“My heart was completely broken when I found out” the fate of the teenager, had tweeted actress Halle Berry, calling on the prosecutor to take action. Like her, many celebrities and activists expressed their outrage, calling for justice. Among them, Naomi Campbell, Viola Davis and Madonna.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas on Tuesday denounced on CNN that the accused had not been charged before protests and cries of outrage were heard across the country. “There shouldn’t be a need for a Halle Berry tweet (…) to get justice”he launched.
An online kitty to pay Ralph Yarl’s medical expenses and allow him to benefit from future psychotherapy had raised more than 2.7 million dollars (2.46 million euros) on Tuesday.
A massive crowd has amassed in front of the white man’s home who attempted to murder 16 year old Black boy Ralph Ya… https://t.co/5UyoyZ3iGO
A similar case occurred in New York State, on the East Coast. Authorities said Monday that a 20-year-old woman was shot and killed while driving her car after she turned into the driveway of a house by mistake. The 65-year-old homeowner, the alleged shooter, was arrested on Monday and charged with premeditated murder, the Washington County Sheriff said at a press conference.
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