On Monday (April 17), Ralph Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, launched a GoFundMe in support of her nephew as he recovers from a widely publicized shooting in Kansas City.
via: The Hill
The GoFundMe page was organized by Yarl’s aunt, Faith Spoonmore, and has raised more than $3.2 million to support Yarl’s medical bills and therapy. Any additional funds will go toward college expenses at Texas A&M and a trip to West Africa, according to the page.
“Ralph is currently at home with the family,” Spoonmore wrote in an update to the page. “He can ambulate and communicate. A true miracle considering what he survived.”
“Each day is different. He has a long road ahead. However, we are very thankful that he is still here with us,” Spoonmore wrote. “I’ve been taking the time to read the emails and comments to Ralph. It warms our hearts to see him smile at all the kind words.”
Yarl was shot in the head and in the arm by after reportedly ringing the doorbell of the wrong home and was hospitalized in critical condition last Thursday. He was released from the hospital on Saturday, and has a “positive” prognosis, the Yarl’s family attorney told CNN.
Yarl was allegedly shot by a white 85-year-old Kansas City homeowner, Andrew Lester, who turned himself in to authorities on Tuesday before they released him on bond. Lester was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in connection to the incident, and is expected to be arraigned Wednesday, CNN reported.
Spoonmore wrote on the GoFundMe page that Yarl did not have his phone when he was on his way to pick up his twin younger brother’s from a friend’s house. She said when the homeowner opened the door for Yarl, he looked her nephew “in the eye” and shot him in the head and shot him again after Yarl had fallen to the ground.
She added that Yarl had to run to three different houses after being shot before someone agreed to help him, telling him “to lie on the ground with his hands up.” Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson said at a news conference Monday that there was a “racial component to this case,” according to CNN.
Yarl has received an outpouring of support through the GoFundMe page as well as officials and lawmakers. President Biden called the teenager to share “his hope for a swift recovery.”
