An 84-year-old white man suspected of shooting a black teenager who accidentally rang his doorbell turned himself in to police, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday, but was released on bail a few hours later.
He had been charged a day earlier with first-degree assault, which carries a life sentence, for shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl on the doorstep of his suburban home around 10pm last Thursday.
Yarl had gone to Lester’s house to pick up his younger siblings who were staying at a nearby house with a similar address.
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Lester was also charged with armed criminal activity, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Lester’s bail was set at $200,000, which he posted within hours of turning himself in to authorities, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said on social media.
“I can tell you there was a racial component to this case,” Thompson said, without elaborating at a press conference announcing the charges. Prosecutors have not filed any hate crime charges, which carry lesser penalties in Missouri than the two charges against Lester, Thompson added.