Ralph Yarl had to pass several houses before receiving help from neighbors of the 84-year-old man who shot him. He was charged four days after the incident.
On April 13, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old black American teenager, was shot twice, one of them in the head, after ringing the wrong doorbell. Commissioned by his parents to pick up his two youngest brothers from friends, he unfortunately found himself outside the home of an 84-year-old white man, Andrew Lester, who shot him twice, once in the head, then a second time to the arm when he was on the ground.
While fleeing, the teenager had to pass several houses before receiving help, while being told to raise his hands in the air, according to the New York Times. Massively shared on social networks, the case was presented as a new example of the racism that plagues the United States.
Ralph replays the scene “over and over again”
This Tuesday on CBS, Ralph Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, spoke for the first time, alongside family attorney Lee Merritt. “Ralph is better, but physically it’s difficult,” she said. Her son had to wait 12 hours before the bullet lodged in his head was removed. He was able to return to his home, where he is being monitored by a medical team.
According to his mother, the teenager re-enacts the drama “again and again”. “He’s constantly replaying the scene. And that doesn’t stop my tears, because when you see your child sitting there, with tears streaming down both sides of his cheeks, there’s nothing you can do,” said she indicated.
Then to continue: “Most of the time, he sits, and he looks at the seals of tears which run down his cheeks”.
Ralph, presented as a brilliant student and member of a brass band, did not pose any particular problem, estimated Cloe Nagbe. The only arguments she had with her son were asking him to put down his sheet music so he could do his English homework.
Shooter charged four days later
The physical repercussions of the incident will be lasting for the child, according to those close to him. He received a first bullet above his left eye, and a second in the right arm.
Also on CBS, family attorney Lee Merritt said the case “sounds awfully familiar.” “Just being black is a threat in this country,” he continued. The Attorney General confirmed that a “racial element” was present in the file.
However, it took four days for the shooter to be apprehended and charged. “That night he went home and slept in his bed,” the lawyer pointed out.
“He received two bullets in his body, when it should have been two brothers running towards him to give him a hug,” said his mother, moved.
