Andrew Lester, who admitted shooting Black teen Ralph Yarl after he mistakenly rang Lester’s doorbell, has died. He was 86.
Lester, who is white, shot twice at the then-16-year-old Yarl after the teen mistakenly arrived at Lester’s door while picking up his little brothers in April 2023. The shooting brought protests, national headlines and death threats against Lester.
Lester died Wednesday, according to the Clay County District Attorney’s office. A cause of death is not yet known.
During a short hearing in Liberty last Friday, Lester was visibly more frail than during the last two years of hearings. He was hunched over in his wheelchair, told the judge he was in poor health and had difficulty hearing the proceedings.
In a statement, Yarl’s family said Lester’s death brought a mix of emotions, but not justice, and left them reeling.
They supported the speedy trial “to ensure the public would see that our society does not condone shooting an unarmed, innocent child simply for ringing the wrong doorbell—especially when that child was targeted because of the color of his skin.”
Although Lester finally admitted guilt, the family said it came at the very last moment and after two years of stalling.
“For nearly two years, Andrew Lester never apologized. Instead, he and his attorney used every legal maneuver possible to delay accountability,” the statement reads. “Now, another Black child harmed by prejudice will never see the man who shot him face the full weight of the justice system.”
On Friday, Lester pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in a plea bargain with the Clay County District Attorney. He was set to be sentenced on March 7, and could have received between one and seven years in prison.
If found guilty of the more serious felonies he was originally charged with, Lester could have received a life sentence.
While there was a racial component to the shooting, there was no racial motivation, District Attorney Zach Thompson said.
Yarl, who was shot twice, survived, and attended Lester’s hearing last Friday. Yarl graduated from Staley High School last year and is now a freshman at Texas A&M University, where he is in Air Force ROTC and the marching band.
After days of national outcry that included hundreds of protestors gathering outside Lester’s house, the Clay County prosecutor charged Lester with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action, both felonies.
Thompson was criticized for not citing Lester with hate crime charges, which many, including Yarl’s family, called for. Thompson said hate crime charges in Missouri carry a lower range of penalties than the two felonies Lester was charged with.
Lester pleaded not guilty to both counts. At the preliminary hearing, Yarl testified that Lester said “Don’t come here ever again,” before shooting him twice — once in the head.
In May 2024, Lester’s defense team had the case sealed from the public. They argued the high-profile case cast Lester in a “negative light” and would prevent him from receiving a fair trial.
Lester’s attorneys filed a motion arguing he wasn’t fit to stand trial two months before the trial was originally supposed to begin. A judge ordered a mental health examination for him before the case moved forward.
Yarl also filed a civil suit in Clay County Court seeking monetary damages from Lester and his homeowner’s association, which they claim failed to take precautions about a “potentially dangerous individual.”
Lester was a military veteran who once worked as an Air Force mechanic during the Vietnam War. He later worked as a mechanic for an airline. He had no criminal history before the shooting.
