美国国家公共电台 NPR--White Kansas City man charged with shooting Black teen who went to the wrong house

White Kansas City man charged with shooting Black teen who went to the wrong house

Transcript¹

Prosecutors³ in Clay County, Mo., say an 84-year-old Kansas City man is charged with two felonies for shooting Black teenager Ralph Yarl, who knocked on his door after going to the wrong address.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

A white 84-year-old Kansas City man is now facing two felonies tied to the shooting of a Black teenager. Yesterday, Andrew D. Lester was charged by Clay County prosecutors. Lester is accused of shooting 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after mistakenly knocking on Lester's door, looking to pick up his little twin brothers. The Clay County prosecutor², Zachary Thompson, said his office looks forward to getting a, quote, "just result."

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZACHARY THOMPSON: We enforce the laws, and we follow the laws. And it does not matter where you come from or what you look like or how much money you have. Everyone is held to the same standard.

MART?NEZ: Peggy Lowe of member station KCUR is following this story. Peggy, first off, can you tell us any update on Ralph Yarl, how he is this morning?

PEGGY LOWE, BYLINE⁴: Good morning, A. Ralph Yarl was released from Children's Mercy Hospital yesterday. He has a head injury to his forehead, and then also he was shot in the arm, but he is recovering. His mom's a nurse, and she is said to be taking time off to care for him. And his dad told The Kansas City Star that he's making good progress. As for Lester, he's out on $200,000 bond.

MART?NEZ: OK. So tell us how this shooting happened.

LOWE: Ralph Yarl was sent by his mom to pick up his twin brothers at a private home about 10 o'clock on last Thursday night. Trouble is, he went to the wrong address. He was supposed to go to 115th Terrace, and he went to 115th Street. He knocked on Lester's door, and according to prosecutors, Lester opened his door holding a Smith & Wesson 32-caliber revolver. Ralph Yarl later told police that Lester said, don't come around here. That's a quote. Lester then shot Ralph Yarl through his glass front door. Then after Yarl fell, Lester shot him again in the arm. Police found blood on Lester's front porch, the sidewalk and in the street, where Yarl had to run to get away. A neighbor called 911 after hearing the shots. And Lester later told the police that Yarl had tried to open the door and that when he saw a Black man there, he was, quoting here, "scared to death."

MART?NEZ: Have there been a number of discrepancies⁵ between what police first said and then what ultimately was confirmed to be correct?

LOWE: That's right. Several things have been pretty confusing. So first, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves said she couldn't forward the investigatory case to prosecutors until she interviewed Yarl. That was on Sunday. But Yarl's attorney said that, in fact, detectives had interviewed him at the hospital on Friday. That was the day after the shooting. The probable cause statement backs up that claim by the attorney. Second, police said they arrested Lester on Thursday night, and then they placed him on a 24-hour hold. Well, in fact, he was questioned and released after just two hours. And police have not explained the source of those mistakes.

MART?NEZ: Let's talk a little bit more about the charges Andrew Lester is facing. Despite many calls to that effect, Lester is not being charged with hate crimes, although the prosecutor, Zachary Thompson, did address race yesterday in the press conference.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

THOMPSON: As the prosecutor of Clay County, I can tell you there was a racial component⁶ to the case.

MART?NEZ: So what did the prosecutor say about this decision?

LOWE: Thompson defended the way he charged this case by saying that Lester is being charged with assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. In Missouri, those are Class A felonies that carry potentially stiff penalties. If he's convicted of that assault charge, he could face a penalty of up to life in prison. And that hate crime charge, the prosecutor said, would carry a less severe punishment.

MART?NEZ: All right. That's Peggy Lowe of member station KCUR. Peggy, thanks.

LOWE: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

3 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 discrepancies   

n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• wide discrepancies in prices quoted for the work 这项工作的报价出入很大
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。