Ralph Yarl, 16, smiles as he recovers at home after being shot in head by white homeowner, 84

Ralph Yarl has been pictured smiling a week after being shot in the head by a white homeowner for mistakenly ringing his doorbell.

The 16-year-old old looked relaxed and smiled with his lawyer Lee Merritt on Wednesday, ahead of Andrew Lester, 84, appearing in court for the first time.

Merritt posted the picture on his Twitter, saying: ‘Ralph Yarl is home and recovering! 

‘How the bullet in his head didn’t cause more extensive damage is truly a miracle. To God be the glory!’

Ralph approached a property in Kansas City, Missouri, thinking he was collecting his two younger brothers but was shot and rushed to hospital in critical condition.

Lester handed himself in on Tuesday after Clay County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that he would be charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action – which could see him face the rest of his life behind bars.

The retired aircraft technician is set to be arraigned at a court in Missouri at 1.35pm on Wednesday. He does not yet have a lawyer listed on court documents.

He was released from Clay County Detention Center after paying 10 percent of the $200,000 bail. 

His grandson told the Daily Beast that the shooting should ‘never have happened’ and explained that mistaking the properties is ‘easy to do’ because they all look the same.

Daniel Ludwig said: ‘I’d go to visit my grandpa, and I would get lost on those streets. It’s just crazy. I wish it didn’t happen.’

The comments come as the GoFundMe page for gifted scholar Yarl, 16, surges past $3.2million.

As a condition of his release, Lester is not allowed to possess weapons of any kind and may not have any contact with Yarl. 

On Thursday night, Yarl was shot twice through the door of Lester’s home, which is just a block away from the property where his younger twin brothers were waiting to be picked up. 

The suspect was first arrested and released hours after the shooting on April 14, when he told police that he was ‘scared to death’ after seeing Yarl standing at his front door. 

Zachary Thompson, Clay County prosecutor said: ‘As the prosecutor for Clay County, I can tell you that there was a racial component to the case… I don’t want to comment on specifics of the case to protect its integrity.’

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves also acknowledged the ‘racial components’ at play in the case.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said that Yarl was ‘shot because he was existing while black’. 

He told CNN that he ‘shared the outrage’ of residents in Kansas City over the lack of action. 

Lucas said: ‘To pretend that race is not a part of this whole situation would be to have your head in the sand.

‘This boy was shot because he was existing while black. And he knocked on the door of someone who clearly, clearly fears black people. 

‘Black boys, black children, and I think that is clear as day and so I hope that is not mistaken or forgotten the reason why many black people and black parents – myself included – are concerned is because if one day it’s ringing on the doorbell, they can get you shot. Then what else is next?’

He added: ‘This is normal existence in life, and somebody came to a door and shot through a door. Not once but twice. That’s what is horrifying. 

‘That’s why I think I’m glad to see this first step towards justice and why we all need to investigate how we handle this and how we can do better in the future.’