Andrew Lester expected to change plea to guilty in 2023 shooting of KC teen Ralph Yarl
Andrew Lester, accused in the high-profile shooting of Ralph Yarl in Kansas City’s Northland in 2023, is scheduled to appear in court Friday, the Clay County Prosecutor’s Office said, where sources say he’s expected to enter a guilty plea.
News outlets, including the Associated Press, report several sources have confirmed that Lester is expected to change his plea at the hearing Friday afternoon. He previously pleaded not guilty to assault and armed criminal action charges stemming from the 2023 shooting.
The hearing comes on the eve of Lester’s trial in Clay County Circuit Court, which was scheduled to begin Feb. 18.
Cher Congour, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office, said she was unable to give additional information about the hearing and said she could not confirm a report about the change of plea. Steven Salmon, Lester’s attorney, did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
In a news release, the prosecutor’s office announced the Friday proceeding, describing it as a new hearing and saying that Yarl and his family would be present. The prosecutor’s office said it would hold a press conference after the hearing.
“Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zach Thompson will discuss the case status, next steps and answer questions related to the process,” the office said.
Lester, who is white, faces first-degree assault and armed criminal action charges in the shooting of Yarl, who is Black, after the teen mistakenly went to the wrong home in Kansas City’s Northland to pick up his brothers on April 13, 2023.
“Ringing a doorbell while Black”
The shooting grabbed national attention, with many raising outcry about the shooting being racially motivated. Activists, politicians and family of the teen pointed to the case as one of “ringing a doorbell while Black.”
A trial for Lester was expected to draw a swarm of both local and national media attention to the Clay County Courthouse in Liberty starting next week.
Lester is accused of shooting Yarl after the teen rang the doorbell at Lester’s home in the 1100 block of Northeast 115th Street. Yarl, who was 16 at the time, had gone to the wrong street and home as he was trying to pick up his younger brothers.
Lester, then 84, told police he went to his front door armed with a gun after he heard the doorbell that night.
He said he saw a Black male through the glass front door and “was scared to death” because of his size, Lester’s age and “inability to defend himself,” according to court documents. Lester told police he saw someone at his door and thought they were trying to break into his home.
He said he shot twice within a few seconds of opening the door. No words were exchanged between the two before he fired, he said, according to court documents.
Yarl was shot in the head and arm, but survived his injuries.
Yarl later told detectives, according to court documents, that he recalled being shot “immediately” and falling to the ground. Then a second gunshot was fired, striking him in the arm, he said.
After being shot, Yarl said he heard the man say: “Don’t come around here.”
Then Yarl said he he got up and ran “to keep from being shot” again, according to court documents. He tried to get help from “multiple residences” and asked for someone to call 911, he told the detective.
Lester wasn’t charged until four days after the shooting.
Civil rights attorneys hired by Yarl’s family previously had, along with others, called for Lester to be charged with a hate crime.
Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney representing the Yarl family, also previously said the teenager was shot “because he was armed with nothing other than his Black skin.”
Trial delays
Lester’s trial originally had a scheduled start date in October, but the proceedings were pushed back after his attorney, Steven Salmon, raised concerns about his client’s mental state.
In court filings, Salmon said it was clear to him that Lester, now 86, lacked the ability to assist in his own defense.
Salmon said Lester was in frail physical health and that he had seen a “marked reduction” in his client’s mental acuity, noting that during trial preparation, Lester had shown “significant difficulties” in his interactions with his attorney.
The judge overseeing the trial pushed back the date while Lester received an evaluation by the state’s Department of Mental Health. The results of that assessment were not made public but the trial proceedings moved ahead, which meant Lester was found fit to proceed to trial.
Since the shooting, Yarl graduated from Staley High School and started college.
This story was originally published February 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM.
