MISSION, Kan. — An 86-year-old Missouri man has died just days after pleading guilty to a lesser charge in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student who rang the white man’s doorbell by mistake, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

Andrew Lester of Kansas City was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of the then-16-year-old, who survived and is now a freshman at Texas A&amp;M. Before his trial was scheduled to begin, he pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge of second-degree assault, which carries up to seven years behind bars. He was scheduled to be sentenced on March 7.

Andrew Lester was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in the shooting of then-16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who survived.{ai:summary}<p>Andrew Lester, an 86-year-old man from Missouri, has died shortly after pleading guilty to second-degree assault in the 2023 shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black honor student. Yarl mistakenly rang Lester's doorbell and survived the incident. Lester was set for sentencing on March 7. #crime</p>

Man on trial for shooting Black teen who rang a wrong doorbell dies days after guilty plea

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