Teen Shot in the Head after Going to Wrong House to Pick up Siblings Opens Up about Recovery

By admin On Jun 27, 2023

The Kansas City teenager who was shot after knocking on the door of the wrong house in April spoke to Good Morning America this week.

Ralph Yarl, 17, told GMA host Robin Roberts that he was trying to pick up his twin brother from a friend’s house but accidentally went to the wrong address. He said he walked up the steps, rang the doorbell and waited for “a long time” before an older man appeared on the other side of a glass door with a gun.

“He points [the gun] at me … so I kinda, like, brace and I turn my head,” Yarl told Roberts. “Then it happened. And then I’m on the ground … and then I fall on the glass. The shattered glass. And then before I know it, I’m running away shouting, ‘Help me, help me.'”

Yarl was shot in the head and the right arm. Doctors say he suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Andrew Lester, the homeowner, was charged with one count of felony assault in the first degree and one count of armed criminal action, also a felony. Lester is 84.

Lester pleaded not guilty and was released on April 18 on a $200,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 31 after a judge agreed to partially seal the evidence in the case.

Lester claimed that he “believed someone was attempting to break into the house.”

After the shooting, Yarl said he went to several houses seeking help. The owners of the first home he approached declined to help him.

“So then I go to the next house across the street. No one answers. And the house to the right of that house, I go there and someone opens the door and tells me to wait for the police,” he said.

He was taken to the hospital.

Yarl’s mother, Cleo Nagbe, called her son’s recovery a “blessing” and noted that the family is “overwhelmingly grateful” for the love and support they’ve been shown following the shooting.

According to Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, the teen did not want to return home since the shooting occurred in his neighborhood. Yarl and his family have since moved, and he told GMA that he is seeing a therapist.

“I’m just a kid and not larger than life because this happened to me,” he said. “I’m just gonna keep doing all the stuff that makes me happy. And just living my life the best I can, and not let this bother me.”

Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.

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