BBC News, Washington
The 86-year-old man at Kansas City, Missouri, admitted to the second-degree attack in the shooting of Ralph Yarla, a teenager who accidentally accidentally visited the wrong address.
On Friday, Andrew Lester agreed with a smaller accusation as part of the guilt agreement, according to US media. The trial should have started next week.
In April 2023. Ralph Yarl, 16, called Lester’s door door as he went to pick up his younger brothers. Prosecutors say Lester shot a teenager without talking to him. The boy survived.
His was one of several cases at a time when unarmed people were shot after confusing addresses, which initiated a discussion of standing your fundamental laws in some US countries that allow the use of a deadly force to prevent death or great bodily harm.
The case encouraged the protests and attracted the attention of the advocates of civil rights and racial justice, who claimed that Rasa Ralph Yarla Factor was a factor in the shooting. Ralph is black and Lester white.
Police said at first that there was a “racial component” of the shooting, but the authorities ultimately decided that Lester would not charge for a crime of hatred.
Lester and his lawyers said he was acting in self -defense and thought the teenager was trying to break into his home.
In appearance in court 2023, Initially declared that he was not guilty on attack and armed criminal action. He faced life in prison if he was convicted of trial.
Will be convicted on March 7 for less allegations. He is facing up to seven years behind bars.
“We hope that his verdict will not only be a slap on the wrist, but a decision that supports the seriousness of his crime.” The Yarl family said in a local media statement.
Ralph Yarl told the authorities that his mother had sent him to pick up his brothers and sisters around 10:00 pm the local time that night. Mixed similar street names – Northeast street 115 and northeast 115 terrace – which put it on the Lester and a threshold and around the block away from the house he was trying to visit.
After rang at the door, Lester shot him twice – once in his forehead and once in his hand. Prosecutors said he “did not cross the threshold” of Lester’s house and survived after fled to neighboring homes for help.
Police at the beginning closed Lester for questioning and letting him go without charges, causing protests at Kansas City. Lester later turned after the arrest warrant was issued.
Ralph Yarl, who has finished high school, is expected to provide a statement on the impact on the victim on the hearing next month.
The protests, which attracted support from celebrities, including Halle Berry, Kerry Washington and Jennifer Hudson, invited to racial justice and attracted attention to withstand their ground -ground laws. Critics claimed that they had contributed to the violence of weapons against blacks in the United States.
The case was also one of a few in the spring of 2023 in which Americans are – many of them children and teenagers – injured after less mistakes welcomed weapons violence.
