Family of teen shot after ringing doorbell at wrong house sues homeowner

The family of Ralph Yarl, the Black teenager who was shot in the head after going to the wrong house, have announced a civil lawsuit in Missouri against the accused shooter and the homeowners association.

The complaint, filed on behalf of Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, names Andrew Lester, the shooter, and the Highland Acres Lakeside Heights Homeowners Association. Neither the association nor Lester’s attorney, Steve Salmon, were immediately available for comment. 

The suit alleges that “carelessness” and “negligence” led Yarl to “suffer and sustain permanent injuries.”

The lawsuit argues that Yarl “never posed or issued a threat to Defendant, Andrew Lester.” It adds that the association “was aware of or should have been aware of Defendant, Andrew Lester’s, propensity for violence, access to dangerous weapons and racial animus.”

The suit also states that Yarl “suffered and sustained permanent injuries, endured pain and suffering of a temporary and permanent nature, experienced disability and losses of normal life activities, was obligated to spend large sums of money for medical and attention and suffered other losses and damages.” 

Yarl, who turns 18 next month, suffered a traumatic brain injury after the shooting, according to his mother, but he continues to heal. 

Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, said the civil suit is to “give the family a chance to be in the driver’s seat in pursuing justice for Ralph,” according to The Associated Press. 

Lester shot Yarl, who was 16 at the time, on April 13, 2023. Yarl said he mixed up the street name of the house where he was sent to pick up his siblings. 

Lester, 84, has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action for the shooting. His trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 7.

At Lester’s hearing last year, Yarl testified that he rang the doorbell and then, as Lester opened the inner door, he reached for the storm door. Lester told Yarl, “Don’t come here ever again.” 

Lester then shot Yarl in the head, knocking him to the ground, and then shot the teen in the arm.

Lester was detained by police for about two hours the night of the shooting. He told police he saw Yarl pulling on an exterior door handle and that he was “scared to death” due to the boy’s size, according to court documents. 

But Yarl’s family said he was 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds.

Still, Lester’s defense team is arguing the retired aircraft mechanic acted in self-defense. 

But attorneys for Yarl’s family argued Lester was careless in assessing the level of threat on the night of the shooting. 

“The suit is based on what he has said,” Merritt told The Associated Press. “If he’s saying, ‘I mistakenly thought this person was a robber,’ we’re saying that’s negligence. You weren’t paying close enough attention. Everybody who rings your doorbell can’t be a robber.”