By HANNAH FINGERHUT (Associated Press)

The family of a Black teenager who was shot by a white homeowner when he mistakenly went to the wrong Kansas City, Missouri, address filed a lawsuit Monday, described by the family’s attorney as an attempt to put pressure on the criminal trial later this year.

The complaint, filed by Cleo Nagbe on behalf of her son, Ralph Yarl, alleges that Andrew Lester, 84, was negligent when he shot the 16-year-old without warning more than a year ago, on April 13. It states that Yarl suffered and sustained permanent injuries, as well as pain and suffering, as a direct result of Lester’s actions.

Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, said the civil suit is to “give the family a chance to be in the driver’s seat in pursuing justice for Ralph” as the state’s criminal case against Lester unfolds.

Lester pleaded not guilty in September 2023. The trial was scheduled to begin more than a year later on October 7, 2024.

Lester’s attorney in the criminal case, Steve Salmon, said he is evaluating the civil complaint and will discuss it with Lester. He said at a preliminary hearing for the criminal case that Lester was acting in self-defense, terrified by the stranger who knocked on his door as he settled into bed for the night.

“The suit is based on what he has said,” Merritt told The Associated Press. “If he’s saying, ‘I mistakenly thought this person was a robber,’ we’re saying that’s negligence. You weren’t paying close enough attention. Everybody who rings your doorbell can’t be a robber.”

Yarl mixed up the street name of the house where he was sent to pick up his siblings. Yarl testified at the hearing that he rang the doorbell and then reached for the storm door as Lester opened the inner door. Lester told him, “Don’t come here ever again,” Yarl recalled.

He said he was shot in the head, the impact knocking him to the ground, and was then shot in the arm.

The case, which drew international attention, animated national debates about gun policies and race in America.

In a statement, Nagbe said the shooting “not only shattered our family but also exposed a critical gap in our societal fabric, where the safety of our children is jeopardized by reckless actions.”

The lawsuit also names the homeowner’s association, Highland Acres Homes Association, Inc., as a defendant. The association did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

Merritt said the family is aware the litigation might be delayed pending the outcome of the criminal case but wanted to still begin the process. He cited state law that allows the victim access to the criminal case records that has not yet been satisfied, as the prosecutor seeks clarification from the judge on the case’s gag order.

Yarl was “uniquely resilient” after the shooting, Merritt said, but “his resiliency has kind of grown into some impatience with being the person who was shot a year ago.”

“He doesn’t want to be that person,” Merritt said. “He wants to be an amazing band player, a good friend, a student, a rising college student.”

Residents of Hastings will have a chance to learn more about what state and local officials are doing to address PFAS contamination in the city.

Nearly all of the water wells serving Hastings have PFAS chemical levels exceeding new federal limits for drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. on May 9 at Hastings High School, 200 General Sieben Dr., in the school’s lower-level parking lot.

The event will include presentations by the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and City of Hastings that will feature recent water-testing results, impacts of PFAS, updates on the investigations for sources of PFAS in the region, and project details for water-treatment plants. There also will be a question-and-answer session.

The meeting follows a recent public notice to the community about new EPA maximum contaminant levels for safe drinking water; five of six wells in Hastings have PFAS contaminant levels above the allowed levels, officials said.

Hastings is among several cities in the east metro that are stepping up efforts to handle the “forever chemicals” after the EPA on April 10 finalized standards of no more than 4 parts per trillion for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. While some communities are able to comply by shutting off certain wells or blending water with cleaner wells, others will have to install costly new filtration systems to remove the chemicals.

For more information, go to: hastingsmn.gov/city-government/city-departments/public-works-and-engineering/pfas.

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Nicole Mitchell (Courtesy of the Becker County Sheriff’s Office)

State Sen. Nicole Mitchell returned to the Capitol on Monday, a week after a burglary arrest threw her political career into doubt and also threatened to upend her party’s agenda.

She checked in as present as the Senate convened for the week. Last week, she didn’t appear in public. Mitchell declined to answer questions from reporters on Monday.

Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, faces pressure to clear up the circumstances around a reported break-in at a relative’s home. Republicans have called on her to resign. Democrats have also moved to create some distance from her troubles, including moving her desk to a far corner of the chamber. A spokesperson for the Senate DFL said she was moved because her former desk neighbor is on an Ethics Committee that will review Mitchell’s conduct.

Mitchell, in a statement Thursday, said she doesn’t intend to resign from the Legislature.

This past weekend, DFL leaders announced that Mitchell would be barred from caucus meetings and committee hearings following her arrest. She will still be able to vote during floor sessions. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said that her ability to participate remotely would be determined on a day-to-day basis.

A Senate subcommittee is set to weigh an ethics complaint against Mitchell next week. Murphy said that probe into Mitchell’s arrest is ongoing.

The first-term lawmaker, a former broadcast meteorologist and member of the Air National Guard, was arrested last week at her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes. According to a criminal complaint, she told police officers at the scene that she wanted to retrieve her late father’s ashes and other belongings. She has said that she and her stepmother aren’t speaking.

Mitchell is far from the only lawmaker to face legal trouble while in office. Five other sitting legislators have been arrested within the past five years, mostly on alcohol-related driving offenses.

But felony-level charges are rare, and the near-even state Senate only ups the stakes. Mitchell’s vote could be the difference between bills passing by a single vote and stalling on a tie vote.

The next court hearing in Mitchell’s case is scheduled for June 10.

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