Walking with a cane and speaking too quietly to be heard throughout a Liberty, Missouri, courtroom, 84-year-old Andrew Lester pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who mistakenly knocked on LesterB次元官网网址檚 front door looking for his younger brothers.

The shooting has attracted presidential attention and renewed national debate about gun policies as people react with shock to a 16-year-old honor student being shot first in the head, then in the arm while making a routine stop in a residential neighborhood.

The case is among three in recent days involving young people who were shot after mistakenly showing up in the wrong places. A 20-year-old woman was killed in upstate New York when the car she was in pulled into the wrong driveway. In Texas, two cheerleaders were shot after one of them mistakenly got into a car thinking it was hers.

Yarl was shot at point-blank range in the head but miraculously survived the bullet.

Some civil rights leaders and YarlB次元官网网址檚 family attorney, Lee Merritt, have urged prosecutors to charge Lester with a hate crime, with Merritt noting that B次元官网网址渨as armed only with his Black skin.B次元官网网址�

Clay County prosecutor Zachary Thompson said first-degree assault is a higher-level crime, allowing a sentence of up to life in prison, which is more than a hate-crime charge would carry. Though activists have called for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate, it was unclear whether it would do so. Messages seeking comment from the department were not returned.

Lester remains free after posting $20,000 B次元官网网址� 10% of his $200,000 bond B次元官网网址� and agreeing to relinquish any weapons and have no contact with Yarl or his family. He also agreed to have his cellphone monitored.

YarlB次元官网网址檚 relatives were not at WednedayB次元官网网址檚 hearing because they are emotionally exhausted, Merritt said. LesterB次元官网网址檚 attorney, Steve Salmon, did not come out of the courthouse to speak with reporters.

The shooting happened about 10 p.m. Thursday. Police Chief Stacey Graves said that YarlB次元官网网址檚 mother asked him to pick up his twin brothers at a home on 115th Terrace.

Yarl, who is all-state band member as well as a top student, mistakenly went to 115th Street B次元官网网址� a block away from where he meant to be. When he rang the bell, Lester came to the door and used a .32 caliber Smith and Wesson 1888 revolver to shoot the teenager.

Lester told police he lives alone and was B次元官网网址渟cared to deathB次元官网网址� when he saw Yarl on the porch because he thought someone was trying to break in, police said in court documents.

No words were exchanged before the shooting, but afterward, as Yarl got up to run, he heard Lester yell, B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 come around here,B次元官网网址� the statement said.

Yarl ran to multiple homes asking for help before finding someone who would call the police, according to court documents.

Merritt said the teen is hardly an imposing figure.

B次元官网网址淭he question is, at 5-8 and 140 pounds, what did Andrew Lester look out and see?B次元官网网址� Merritt asked at a downtown rally Tuesday. B次元官网网址淎nd the answer is he saw a Black person. And for him, that was enough justification. And that would just be a tragedy except law enforcement agreed with him.B次元官网网址�

Legal experts expect Lester to claim self-defense and cite MissouriB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淪tand Your GroundB次元官网网址� law, sometimes referred to as the B次元官网网址淐astle Doctrine.B次元官网网址� Missouri is among about 30 states with similar laws that say residents donB次元官网网址檛 have to retreat when threatened in their homes, but instead can respond with physical, even lethal force.

But Merritt said the law only applies if B次元官网网址渟omeoneB次元官网网址檚 on your property and theyB次元官网网址檙e looking to do you harm B次元官网网址�. We donB次元官网网址檛 have any evidence of that. The Castle Doctrine does not apply to this case.B次元官网网址�

The shooting outraged many in Kansas City and across the country. President Joe Biden spoke with Yarl on Monday, and on Tuesday invited him to the White House.

B次元官网网址淣o parent should have to worry that their kid will be shot after ringing the wrong doorbell,B次元官网网址� Biden tweeted. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e got to keep up the fight against gun violence.B次元官网网址�

Republican Gov. Mike Parson, who had remained silent on the shooting until Wednesday, accused Biden of politicizing it.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want some 16-year-old kid to be getting shot because he went to the wrong house B次元官网网址� we just donB次元官网网址檛 want those kinds of things to happen. ItB次元官网网址檚 a tragedy,B次元官网网址� Parson told the Kansas City Star. B次元官网网址淲hen the president of the United States is trying to make a political statement over a very serious tragedy, it is very unfortunate.B次元官网网址�

Thompson, the prosecutor, said Monday that there was a B次元官网网址渞acial componentB次元官网网址� to the shooting but did not elaborate. Merritt said the Yarl family met privately with Thompson. The prosecutor said he was B次元官网网址渆choing the words from law enforcement that obviously thereB次元官网网址檚 a racial dynamic at play in this case,B次元官网网址� said Merritt, who called the answer B次元官网网址渟hallow.B次元官网网址�

LesterB次元官网网址檚 next court date is June 1.

B次元官网网址淔rom this point forward, the state will be pushing to move this case forward as swiftly as legally permitted,B次元官网网址� Thompson said in a statement after WednesdayB次元官网网址檚 hearing.

B次元官网网址斺赌斺赌�

Salter reported from OB次元官网网址橣allon, Missouri. Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas, contributed to this report.

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