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18th April 2023
11:02am BST
Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston have joined calls for the immediate arrest of a man who shot a 16-year-old in the head after he rang the wrong doorbell.
Andrew Lester, 84, is alleged to have shot black teenager Ralph Yarl in the head and arm after he rang Lester's doorbell, in the US state of Missouri.
Yarl had gone to pick up his younger brother from a home on April 13, but accidentally went to the wrong address at around 10pm local time.
After he rang Lester's doorbell twice, he was shot by the homeowner. No words were exchanged.
Yarl, a talented musician, survived the attack and was released from hospital on Sunday. He is at home recovering from his injuries.
But, after being questioned by police, Lester was released after 24 hours in custody. Missouri state law dictates that anyone taken into custody for investigation must be either charged within 24 hours or released.
However, on Tuesday police announced they had charged the 84-year-old with first-degree assault and armed criminal action, the BBC reports.
Despite a prosecutor saying there was a "racial element" to the shooting, Lester has not been charged with a hate crime and the charging documents do not describe any alleged racial bias.
His release has prompted protests across Missouri and Kansas City calling for justice for the teenager.
A number of A-list celebrities have also taken to social media to demand for Lester's "immediate arrest."
Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Viola Davis, Jennifer Hudson, Justin Timberlake and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes have all spoken out about the story.
Aniston called on her fans to contact prosecutor Zachary Thompson in a post to her Instagram Story.
The actor shared a series of photos of Ralph Yarl, and detailed the horrific story for anyone who wasn't aware.
She then wrote: "Use the contact information below to demand Prosecutor Zachary Thompson make an immediate arrest and bring the appropriate charges."
Meanwhile, Berry tweeted that she was "sick and tired of this feeling," adding that her "heart completely broke" when she heard the story.
At a press conference on Monday, Clay County Prosecutor Zachary Thompson said: "My message to the community is that, in Clay County, we enforce the laws and we follow the laws.
"That doesn't matter where you come from, what you look like or how much money you have."
A GoFundMe page set up to pay for Ralph's medical recovery has raised over $2.6m as of Tuesday.
Two days after Yarl's shooting, a separate incident in New York state saw a 20-year-old woman shot dead after she mistakenly drove into the wrong driveway.
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