'Stand your ground' laws spotlighted by wrong-place shootings
The shootings of four young people after simple, everyday mistakes have shone a spotlight on the proliferation of 'stand your ground' laws in the U.S.
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The shootings of four young people after simple, everyday mistakes have shone a spotlight on the proliferation of 'stand your ground' laws in the U.S.
As Ralph Yarl struggled to come to grips with being shot after going to the wrong house to pick up his younger brothers, the white Kansas City, Missouri, homeowner who shot the Black teenager turned himself in and was released on bond Tuesday.
Stand your ground laws have proliferated in the years since the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the Black teenager killed in 2012. Research shows the laws have led to an increase in firearm homicides.
Ralph Yarl was shot at point-blank range in the head by a white homeowner but miraculously survived the bullet to his skull, the attorney for the family of the Black teenager said.
Andrew Lester, who is White, is charged with first-degree assault. Prosecutors say that carries a tougher possible sentence — life in prison — than a hate crime would.