Missouri
Ralph Yarl, Black teenager shot by white man, now in Missouri’s all-state band
A Black teenager who was shot by an elderly white man after ringing the wrong doorbell when picking up his siblings has secured a spot on Missouri’s all-state band, less than a year after suffering a traumatic brain injury from the shooting.
Ralph Yarl, who is 17, was shot in the head and arm by Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old homeowner in Kansas City, Missouri, in April last year after going to the wrong house to pick up his twin brothers. The case reignited debate in the US over race and gun violence issues.
Yarl has now been selected to play second chair bass clarinet for Missouri’s all-state band, North Kansas city schools has announced. Yarl, who also plays the saxophone, has previously spoken of how music helped him during his recovery from the shooting. He will perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association annual conference in Lake of the Ozarks this month, according to a North Kansas City Schools Facebook post.
Just 16 years old when he went to pick up his brothers from a friends’ house, which he’d never been to before, Yarl mistakenly rang the doorbell at Lester’s premises a block away. Lester, a retired aircraft mechanic, then came to the door and, according to Yarl, said “Don’t come here ever again.”
“I hear the door open. I see this old man, and I’m assuming, ‘Oh, this must be like their grandpa,’ and then he pulls out his gun, and I’m like, whoa!” Yarl told ABC News.
“So I back up. He points it at me. So I kind of, like, brace and I turn my head. I’m thinking there’s no way he’s actually going to shoot, right? The door [isn’t] even open. He’s going to shoot through his glass door and glass is going get everywhere? And then it happened.”
Yarl said that he was bleeding from his head and tried to seek help from a neighbor across the street, who declined to help. He had to knock on the door of multiple houses before someone opened the door and told him to wait for the police.
The teenager subsequently underwent neurological surgery for the injuries he received. He has said that he suffers lingering effects, saying his “mind is just foggy, like I can’t concentrate on the things that would be easy for me to do”.
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Lester told police that he believed someone was attempting to break into his house and that he grabbed a gun to protect himself. Missouri is a “stand your ground” state where people can use deadly force if they reasonably believe they are at risk of violent attack.
In August, a Missouri judge ordered that Lester stand trial for the shooting. At the hearing, several people in the courtroom were wearing shirts that read ‘Justice for Ralph’ and ‘Ringing a doorbell is not a crime.’ Lester has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action and was released on a $200,000 bond.
Missouri
BetMGM Missouri bonus code NYPDM1500: Get a 20% first deposit match up to $1,500 for Missouri vs. Alabama State
You can get in on Missouri sports betting with a BetMGM welcome offer for college basketball on Thursday.
BetMGM Bonus code NYPDM1500 gets bettors a 20 percent first deposit match up to $1500 when in Missouri.
Mizzou is a 22.5-point favorite over Alabama State. The Tigers step back onto its home floor looking to reset after road losses to Notre Dame and Kansas. Alabama State has struggled mightily against high-major opponents.
BetMGM Missouri bonus code NYPDM1500
The BetMGM Bonus Code NYPDM1500 can be used for any sport and market offered at BetMGM. That includes Missouri State vs. Arkansas State in the Xbox Bowl.
BetMGM’s Missouri promo code is considered one of the highest valued promotions in contrast to other Missouri bonus offers.
If bettors wanted to snag the maximum value of the offer, they would have to deposit $7,500. Otherwise, they get 20 percent of whatever they deposit, i.e., deposit $100, get $20.
New users must be physically present in Missouri when signing up at BetMGM to take advantage of this welcome offer.
How to sign up for BetMGM in Missouri
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What our Post expert thinks about Missouri vs. Alabama State
Alabama State has already dropped its two power-conference tests by an average of 32.5 points, and its defensive profile hasn’t suggested much resistance.
The Hornets bring two of the SWAC’s top scorers in Asjon Anderson and Micah Simpson, they are giving up 81.4 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 45.3 percent from the floor.
Missouri’s rebounding edge should matter — the Tigers pull nearly 40 boards per game while Alabama State is giving up 37.4 a night and just surrendered 18 offensive rebounds to UT Martin.
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Why Trust New York Post Betting
Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Road construction on Springfield’s northside is affecting access to the Southwest Missouri Humane Society.
MoDOT is realigning the intersection of Norton and Melville Road as part of the I-44 overpass project. The bridge work and intersection project are both impacting the animal shelter.
The shelter sits on Norton Road just west of where the work is happening. Visitors can only reach the shelter by taking the long way up West Bypass to Westgate Avenue, then onto Norton Road.
MoDOT says the intersection at Norton and Melville is supposed to be closed for two weeks. The bridge project, as a whole, is supposed to be completed by the end of the year.
To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.
Copyright 2025 KY3. All rights reserved.
KSHB 41 News anchor Caitlin Knute is interested in hearing from you. Send her an e-mail.
Organizers working to turn back Missouri’s congressional redistricting map spoke Tuesday about collecting signatures to put the effort to a vote by citizens.
People Not Politicians submitted more than 300,000 signatures Tuesday to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office. The signatures hope to force a statewide vote on redistricting approved earlier this year by Missouri politicians.
KSHB 41 anchor Caitlin Knute spoke with one of the volunteers behind the effort.
Volunteer describes collecting signatures for petition on Missouri redistricting
“I think people in rural areas want to follow the Constitution, and I think it was pretty clear this was not done within the parameters of the Constitution,” volunteer Elizabeth Franklin said.
Redistricting typically occurs after a census every 10 years, but that wasn’t the case this year in Missouri. Critics on both sides of the aisle note that it splits Kansas City into three districts, lumping parts of the city in with much more rural areas.
A spokesperson for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office confirmed receipt of 691 boxes of signatures.
“The elections division will proceed with scanning, counting and sorting the sheets for verification by local election authorities,” the spokesperson said.
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