KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andrew Lester, who was charged Monday in the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, surrendered to law enforcement Tuesday and subsequently posted bond.
One day after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, Lester, 84, turned himself in Tuesday at the Clay County Detention Center, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office said Lester was booked and initially held on a $200,000 bond, which he posted later Tuesday afternoon and was released.
He faces 10 to 30 years in prison for the assault charge and between three to 15 years for the armed criminal action charge.
Yarl, an honors student at Staley High School, was in Lester's neighborhood to pick up his twin 11-year-old brothers, but then went to the wrong address.
After hearing the doorbell around 9:50 p.m., Lester told police he grabbed a Smith and Wesson .32-caliber revolver before heading to the door.
Upon seeing Yarl, who is Black, standing on the porch, Lester, who is white, shot Yarl in the head through the home's glass storm door.
After Yarl fell to the ground, Lester shot him a second time in the arm. He told KCPD investigators that he thought someone was trying to break into his home, according to a probable cause statement.
Yarl meant to go to a house in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Terrace, but wound up one block away.
Yarl was taken to an area hospital with critical injuries Thursday, his family's attorney provided an updated Monday that he had been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Lester was arrested and interviewed by police, and was booked at the KCPD East Patrol Division for a couple of hours. Lester was released once it was determined that additional investigation would be needed beyond a 24-hour hold.
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