Mother says Ralph Yarl is crying ‘buckets of tears’ as he replays Kansas City shooting

The mother of the 16-year-old boy who was shot after he mistakenly went to the wrong house said he is crying “buckets of tears” as he replays the shooting in his mind. 

Cleo Nagbe told Gayle King in an interview on CBS Mornings on Tuesday that her son, Ralph Yarl, is “doing considerably well” after he was shot last week in Kansas City and his spirits are “in a good place.” She said Yarl was shot in the top of his left eye and his upper right arm. 

“He’s able to communicate mostly when he feels like it, but mostly he just sits there and stares, and buckets of tears just roll down his eyes. You can see that he’s just replaying the situation over and over again, and that just doesn’t stop my tears either,” Nagbe said. 

Yarl, who is Black, was hospitalized in critical condition after he was shot last Thursday. He apparently went to the wrong address to pick up his younger brothers who were with a friend, and a white homeowner, Andrew Lester, allegedly shot him. 

The injuries Yarl sustained were not fatal, and he was released from the hospital a few days later. 

Lester has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. 

Nagbe said Yarl had a bullet in his head from the one that hit his left eye for 12 hours, causing an “extensive” injury. She said the effect of the injury will stay “for quite a while.” 

Nagbe said Yarl’s pediatrician told her on Monday that a CT scan showed minimal fragments of the bullet remained, which she was surprised by. 

President Biden called Yarl on Monday evening to wish him a speedy recovery. Nagbe said the president was joking with Yarl about Biden’s musical abilities. 

“He and Ralph joked that his dad was a clarinet player, and his dad told him that if it depended on President Biden to support the family on his musical skills, the family was gonna die hungry,” Nagbe said. 

Yarl reportedly plays bass clarinet in his school’s marching band and has been described by family and friends as a “musical genius” in the days following the shooting. 

Zachary Thompson, the prosecuting attorney for Clay County, Mo., reportedly said at a news conference addressing the charges that a “racial component” exists in this case.