Ralph Yarl, 16, smiles as he recovers at home after being shot in head

PICTURED: Ralph Yarl, 16, smiles as he recovers at home after being shot in head by white homeowner, 84, set to appear in court over shooting today – as GoFundMe reaches $3.2m

• The talented musician was released from hospital on Sunday, but has now been pictured for the first time since the shooting
• His lawyer Lee Merritt said it was ‘truly a miracle’  that the teenager was not more seriously injured
• Andrew Lester, 84, is set to appear for arraignment at a Missouri court on Wednesday afternoon  

Ralph Yarl has been pictured smiling a week after being shot in the head by a white homeowner for mistakenly ringing his doorbell.

The 16-year-old old looked relaxed and smiled with his lawyer Lee Merritt on Wednesday, ahead of Andrew Lester, 84, appearing in court for the first time.

Merritt posted the picture on his Twitter, saying: ‘Ralph Yarl is home and recovering! 

‘How the bullet in his head didn’t cause more extensive damage is truly a miracle. To God be the glory!’

Ralph approached a property in Kansas City, Missouri, thinking he was collecting his two younger brothers but was shot and rushed to hospital in critical condition.

The 16-year-old old looked relaxed and smiled with his lawyer Lee Merritt on Wednesday, ahead of Andrew Lester, 84, appearing in court for the first time

Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered to Clay County’s Detention Centre in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday afternoon and was released after paying 10 percent of the $200,000 bail

Lester handed himself in on Tuesday after Clay County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that he would be charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action – which could see him face the rest of his life behind bars.

The retired aircraft technician is set to be arraigned at a court in Missouri at 1.35pm on Wednesday. He does not yet have a lawyer listed on court documents.

He was released from Clay County Detention Center after paying 10 percent of the $200,000 bail. 

His grandson told the Daily Beast that the shooting should ‘never have happened’ and explained that mistaking the properties is ‘easy to do’ because they all look the same.

Daniel Ludwig said: ‘I’d go to visit my grandpa, and I would get lost on those streets. It’s just crazy. I wish it didn’t happen.’

The comments come as the GoFundMe page for gifted scholar Yarl, 16, surges past $3.2million.

As a condition of his release, Lester is not allowed to possess weapons of any kind and may not have any contact with Yarl. 

On Thursday night, Yarl was shot twice through the door of Lester’s home, which is just a block away from the property where his younger twin brothers were waiting to be picked up. 

Lester is facing life in jail after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in relation to the shooting which saw Ralph Yarl rushed to hospital  

Pictured: The home of Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old white homeowner accused of shooting Black teen Ralph Yarl in Kansas City, Missouri

Yarl was shot in the head and the arm on April 13 after mistakenly ringing the doorbell at the Missouri property where he thought he was meant to pick up his younger twin brothers

The suspect was first arrested and released hours after the shooting on April 14, when he told police that he was ‘scared to death’ after seeing Yarl standing at his front door. 

Zachary Thompson, Clay County prosecutor said: ‘As the prosecutor for Clay County, I can tell you that there was a racial component to the case… I don’t want to comment on specifics of the case to protect its integrity.’

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves also acknowledged the ‘racial components’ at play in the case.

Lester shot twice within seconds of opening the door, according to his statement, and claims that no words were exchanged

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that Yarl was ‘shot because he was existing while black’. 

He told CNN that he ‘shared the outrage’ of residents in Kansas City over the lack of action. 

Lucas said: ‘To pretend that race is not a part of this whole situation would be to have your head in the sand.

‘This boy was shot because he was existing while black. And he knocked on the door of someone who clearly, clearly fears black people. 

‘Black boys, black children, and I think that is clear as day and so I hope that is not mistaken or forgotten the reason why many black people and black parents – myself included – are concerned is because if one day it’s ringing on the doorbell, they can get you shot. Then what else is next?’

He added: ‘This is normal existence in life, and somebody came to a door and shot through a door. Not once but twice. That’s what is horrifying. 

‘That’s why I think I’m glad to see this first step towards justice and why we all need to investigate how we handle this and how we can do better in the future.’

Lester, who had a mechanical FAA licence registered to Arizona, had been free on the opinion of the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office as investigations continued. 

President Joe Biden rang the Yarl family on Monday, and invited them to the White House when the teenager is well enough

Andrew Lester, 84, told Kansas City Police Department that shooting Ralph Yarl, 16, was the ‘last thing he wanted to do’ but was terrified of the teenager because of his size and age

The house in Kansas City, Missouri had a ‘no solicitors’ sign on top of the doorbell which Ralph mistakenly rang

Kansas City Police Department on Monday submitted a file to the Prosecutor’s Office, which issued a warrant for Lester’s arrest that evening. 

MISSOURI ‘STAND YOUR GROUND’ LAWS

Missouri is one of twenty US states which has stand-your-ground laws, which removes the duty to retreat before using deadly force in self-defense.

The law permits homeowners to protect themselves, or a third party (with exceptions) with deadly force should a person feel it is necessary.

According to Missouri Revised Statutes 563.031 residents must be faced with a threat before shooting trespassers on the property.

It states: ‘[Protective] force is used against a person who unlawfully enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person.’

‘Stand-your-ground’ laws roughly define how an individual can defend themselves when faced with an imminent threat anywhere else; imminent being a keyword here because even threatening words towards a defending person can lead to a justified homicide.

Yarl was shot in the head and the arm on April 13 after mistakenly ringing the doorbell at the Missouri property where he thought he was meant to pick up his younger twin brothers.

In a probable cause affidavit, Lester told KCPD that shooting Yarl was the ‘last thing he wanted to do’ but was terrified of the teenager because of his size and age.

The document also revealed that cops discovered a Smith and Wesson .32 caliber revolver with two spent shell casings still in the cylinder after officers arrived at the scene.

Police say Yarl was shot after he knocked on the door, with Lester telling officers he saw him ‘pulling on the door handle’ – something which the teenager denies.

Yarl also told authorities that Lester told him ‘don’t come around here’ after being shot in the head and the arm through the glass at the front of the house.

Lester shot twice within seconds of opening the door, according to his statement, and claims that no words were exchanged.

The document revealed that he was shot in the left forehead, and right arm, with a neighbor telling cops they thought it was ‘odd’ for their ‘elderly neighbor to have a visitor this late at night’.

A witness added that they heard ‘two or three gunshots’ from Lester’s home, and heard Yarl screaming that he had been shot.

Lester told officers that he felt he was ‘protecting himself’ at the property where he says he lives alone.

He also claimed that he called 911 after the shooting, claiming that Yarl ‘ran away’ after the incident.

The statement shows that he was ‘visibly upset’ and ‘repeatedly expressed concern’ for Yarl during the interview. 

Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot twice in the head by a white man after he approached the wrong house by mistake when going to collect his siblings

Yarl, center, was said to be trying to pick up his younger siblings from a friend’s house but went to the wrong address

He said he ‘believed he was protecting himself from a physical confrontation and could not take the chance of the male coming in’.

Yarl told officers that he pressed the doorbell and waited outside of the door, adding that the man inside ‘took a long time but finally opened the door holding a firearm’. 

Officers took a hard drive from Lester’s home to preserve video, but the video system was ‘no longer functional’. 

Lester’s home had signs warning trespassers and unwelcomed visitors, though it is unclear if Yarl saw any of them before approaching the property.

The doorbell had a small ‘no solicitors’ sign on top while another sign claimed the property was ‘protected by surveillance cameras’. 

Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson announced the two felony charges on Monday, and confirmed that there was a ‘racial component’ to the case, but would not elaborate further.

Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the family, added that Yarl’s legal team was not aware of what the ‘racial element’ of the case was which was announced by Clay County Prosecutors office on Monday night.

He said: ‘It’s a white shooter and a black boy. The man in his 80s went home and slept in his bed that night. But I’m not sure what the prosecutor was referring to exactly.’

Yarl’s mother told CBS News that her son was waiting for a hug from his twin brothers but instead ‘got a couple of bullets’.

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