New disturbing details are emerging about the man who shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after he went to the wrong door on April 13 to pick up his younger siblings.
Andrew Lester’s ex-wife, grandson and neighbor have now spoken out about his propensity to be violent and hateful. The 84-year-old man claims he shot the teenager twice after he saw Ralph at his door because he was afraid.
Mary Clayton, who was married to Lester for 14 years, told The New York Times that he would often have fits of rage and break things in the home she shared with him and three children.
“I was always scared of him,” Clayton said. “It doesn’t surprise me what happened.”
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Clayton, who said she has not spoken to Lester for decades, got word of the shooting from her daughter.
Klint Ludwig, Lester’s grandson, has also distanced himself from his grandfather. He told The New York Times the two parted ways over his devotion to right-wing conspiracy theories. Ludwig said Lester spent a reasonable amount of time watching conservative news programs, “fully buying into Fox News, OAN.”
Ludwig said Lester had been immersed in “a 24-hour news cycle of fear and paranoia.”
“And then the NRA pushing the ‘stand your ground’ stuff and that you have to defend your home,” he said. “When I heard what happened, I was appalled and shocked that it transpired, but I didn’t disbelieve that it was true.”
The 28-year-old also revealed that Lester had been known to make derogatory comments about Black people, homosexuals and immigrants. He also noted that his grandfather kept numerous guns in his home.
Lester told police he lives alone and picked up his handgun when he heard his doorbell ring, according to a probable cause statement. He was “scared to death”…
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