Kids

Ralph Yarl is alive today thanks, in part, to the actions of 2 neighbors who came to his assistance minutes after Andrew Lester shot the 16-year-old boy twice -- and one of those neighbors is tearfully sharing the traumatic experience.

Jodi Rae joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live," and was almost immediately choked up remembering when Ralph banged on her front door, desperately seeking help. She says she couldn't see out her front door, and was uncertain about what was going on outside.

She had not heard the gunshots, but says it was clear Ralph was in dire need of assistance ... so, she decided to call 911. The operator told her there was an active shooter in the area, and advised Jodi not to open her door.

This definitely created a massive dilemma for Jodi ... one that brought her to tears as she told us about it -- she wanted to make sure her own son remained safe in their home, but also wanted to help Ralph, who she could see through her window falling to his knees.

Jodi says once she saw another neighbor walking outside, she figured the danger must have passed ... and immediately ran to Ralph's side. When she saw pools of blood outside her door, she realized the teen had been shot.

The story gets even more gripping and emotional at this point ... Jodi says she and a male neighbor used a towel to apply pressure to Ralph's head wound, held his hand and talked to him about school ... anything to keep his mind off the pain he was clearly suffering.

She fought through tears to tell us what Ralph told them about getting shot. She says she's had very limited contact with the shooter, Lester, since moving to the Kansas City neighborhood last year.

Jodi says she just kept thinking, "That's somebody's son," and knew she had to do something to help him. Sadly, she says there's been some backlash against her and other neighbors ... people who are, incorrectly, assuming the community did nothing to help Ralph.

While that's clearly not what happened, Jodi says she's mostly concerned with Ralph's recovery. She says, "Nothing compares to what that young man is living through every day."

The spate of homeowner shootings got even more insane after a 6-year-old and her parents were shot by a neighbor who was pissed off because their basketball rolled onto his property.

Robert Louis Singletary went ballistic Tuesday in North Carolina ... apparently angry at a bunch of kids who were playing basketball nearby. The ball bounced onto Singletary's yard, and he responded by running down the street with a gun and shooting at a neighbor.

Singletary wasn't done ... he started shooting at the little girl and her parents. The girl, Kinsley White, was grazed on her face by a bullet, and her parents were struck as well.  Kinsley's dad, William White, was hit in the back and critically injured. White apparently stepped into the line of fire to protect his daughter.

Kinsley told a local TV outlet WSOC-TV, "Why did you shoot my daddy and me? Why did you shoot a kid's dad?"

Singletary has been charged with 4 counts of first-degree attempted murder, among other charges.

The white geriatric gunman who shot and nearly killed a 16-year-old Black youth in Missouri is a Trump supporter who has been radicalized by racist conservative views in recent years ... at least according to his grandson.

Klint Ludwig was on CNN Thursday, railing on his 84-year-old grandfather, Andrew Lester, who stands accused of shooting Ralph Yarl outside Lester's Kansas City home last week.

Ludwig said he was "disgusted" by Lester's alleged attack on Yarl, calling it a "horrible tragedy." Ludwig also said he was 100 percent in Yarl's corner.

Don Lemon asked Ludwig why he was speaking out against his own grandfather. Ludwig responded, "It was right thing to do," adding, "This country it happens over and over again where people get away with killing unarmed innocent Black people."

He continued, "People need to speak out and not make any excuses for this kind of behavior and violence."

Ludwig went even deeper, accusing his grandfather of being a "stock American Christian male" with "racist tendencies."

Ludwig also stated as Lester got older, he became conspiratorial and would say "weird racist things," which seemed to be the result of watching conservative media outlets, such as FOX News, all day long. Ludwig went on to say Lester is a Trump supporter and, within the last five years or so, he became radicalized with these toxic views.

As we reported, Yarl mistakenly arrived at Lester's home in Kansas City last week while trying to pick up his younger siblings, who were staying at a different address.

After Yarl rang the bell, Lester answered the door while armed with a loaded revolver. Lester then opened fire through a glass door, hitting Yarl in the head and then firing a second time, hitting him in the right arm. At no point did Yarl step foot inside Lester's house.

Yarl was rushed to a hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries, but, miraculously, he survived. In fact, his attorney, Lee Merritt, posted a photo of the two back at Ralph's home Wednesday.

According to court documents, Lester told police he spotted Yarl yanking on an outer door handle and thought the teen was trying to break into his home. That's why, Lester says, he shot Yarl.

But Yarl allegedly gave a different story to investigators, telling them that he never pulled on the door handle and that he was standing patiently waiting for someone to answer the bell he rang.

Aside from being a child actress, this sweet girl -- rockin' her hair clip and showing off her beautiful smile -- was also a top figure skater and earned a black belt in Taekwondo while growing up on the Upper East Side of New York City.

After making her acting debut at just 6 years old in the television film "An Invasion of Privacy," her future spotlight was lookin' quite bright, and before she knew it was starring on the soap opera "All My Children." But, perhaps you know her from her days as Buffy Summers.

Need one more hint? She's acted alongside Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair!

R. Kelly has officially filed an appeal in his federal sex crimes case out of New York -- and he's got a laundry list of reasons why he thinks his conviction should be reversed.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the controversial singer -- who was found guilty in 2021 on 9 federal counts that included RICO charges as well as charges pertaining to sex crimes and human trafficking -- says he got a raw deal throughout the lengthy trial.

For starters, R. Kelly's legal team simply argues the government did not meet its burden of proof in court ... despite a jury convicting him on all counts. His lawyers have specific gripes about the jury and some of the evidence prosecutors were allowed to submit during trial.

For the jury, his attorneys say that at least 4 of the jurors selected have since admitted prejudging his guilt before handing down their official verdict -- and he says at least 2 of them had watched the "Surviving R. Kelly" docuseries, and should never have been seated on the jury.

As for the underage girls he's alleged to have groomed and molested ... Kelly seems to have an explanation for what happened in each case. He says some were, in fact, at least 18 years old when he met and engaged in sexual relationships with them -- despite prosecutors' insistence the alleged grooming started while they were still minors.

In the cases where Kelly is alleged to have met with actual minors ... his team claims he was misled by those girls at the time about their real age.

Now, on the evidence front -- his team claims there was a lot of stuff that was allowed in during the trial that shouldn't have been seen or heard by the jury ... and hurt his ability to get a fair trial.

For instance, he says details about his sex life and/or conduct and behavior with former partners or exes of his -- accounts of which dove into STDs, sexual preferences and behavior in the bedroom -- were not relevant to the crimes being alleged against him, and were simply a way for prosecutors to sway the jury.

He also pushes back on former employees/associates of his that were trotted out on the stand ... saying a lot of them falsely testified to things they had no real knowledge of and weren't privy to in their capacity as staffers.

He's asking the appeals court to reverse his convictions or, at a minimum, order a new trial. Of course, there's a second federal case in which he was also convicted out of Chicago. No appeal for that just yet

Passengers on a Southwest flight were annoyed by constant screams on board ... but not just from a baby, these were from a grown-ass adult throwing a tantrum over a crying child, swearing up a storm as they were stuck in the air!!!

We've all been a little annoyed with the crying baby thing, but this dude took it to a whole other level -- the freak-out was caught on camera as he loudly groused he paid for a comfortable flight and got this instead.

He says lots of wild stuff in the clip -- screaming at the top of his lungs, asking if the baby paid more for crying privileges. The flight attendants try pointing out he's yelling in the cabin, and the man responds "So is the baby!"

The attendant hits him back with the perfect response ... "You're a man!"

It doesn't end once the flight lands, BTW -- because he was greeted by cops at the airport and seemingly escorted out.

We've reached out to Southwest for comment ... so far, no word back.

A youth wrestler in Illinois was socked in the face while trying to shake hands with his opponent following a match earlier this month ... and the blow was so violent, police are now investigating.

The altercation went down at the "Beat The Streets" tournament on April 8 at Oak Park River Forest H.S. in Oak Park, Ill., where kids from ages 8-to-18 were participating in a wrestling competition.

In video of the incident shot by The Wrestling Spot at the event, you can see an 8th grader from SPAR Academy and his opponent finishing up on the mat during a 125-128 pound freestyle third-place match -- when things suddenly took a disturbing turn.

The video shows as the SPAR wrestler -- who won the match 14-2 -- looked to shake hands with his opponent ... he was leveled by a cheap shot to the face.

The strike connected flush, and the SPAR wrestler -- wearing an orange and tan singlet -- crumpled to the floor.

TMZ Sports has learned he suffered a nose injury and has since been forced to wear a face mask at events while it heals ... but, fortunately, we're told he's somehow doing OK.

"He is making the best of the situation and is already back to training," SPAR Academy founder Justin Pearch told us Tuesday.

"As you may know, wrestling matches can get heated but nothing leading up to the punch would give cause to such bad decision-making on the opponent's part."

"It’s not tolerated in our sport and Spar Wrestling will never condone that behavior," Pearch added.

As for cops, an Oak Park Police Dept. spokesperson said Tuesday the incident is under investigation ... and the parents of both minors are cooperating.

The wife of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds is officially divorcing him ... after the estranged couple announced their separation last year.

According to court records, Dan's wife Aja Volkman filed Tuesday in L.A., pulling the plug on a marriage that lasted over a decade. They have four kids together.

As we reported, the soon-to-be exes called it quits in September, and a couple months later Dan was linked to his new GF Minka Kelly.

We've seen them on a handful of dates since then -- from grabbing dinner to holding hands on a walk to some lunchtime PDA.

Dan's been in pretty good spirits since his split from Aja ... and not only because of Minka. We recently saw him dancing up a storm on a cruise to Mexico last month.

The family of Ralph Yarl says justice can be served by locking up the 84-year-old shooter for the rest of his days ... and forcing him to financially support the Kansas City teen's future.

Ralph's attorney Lee Merritt tells TMZ ... the Yarl family sees life in prison as the appropriate punishment for Andrew Lester, the man charged with shooting Ralph after he mistakenly rang Lester's doorbell. He also says all of Lester's assets should go into a college fund for Ralph.

On top of that, the family's calling on Missouri to implement more robust hate crime laws that could be applied in situations like Ralph's. They also want the DOJ to perform a review of the KC Police Department's to assess any possible internal racial biases in its practices, noting they don't think the department took the incident seriously enough at first.

As you know, Ralph was shot twice by Lester last week, including once in the head -- and police say Lester claims he thought Ralph was trying to break into his home. Lester surrendered to cops Tuesday, the day after he was charged with 2 felonies -- assault in the first degree and armed criminal action.

Merritt says Ralph's head injury damaged the part of his brain that handles emotions, so he's been struggling with controlling them since the ordeal.

We're also told the family's looking at the possibility of a lawsuit against Lester as well as the city ... because they had to fight so hard just to get Lester charged and arrested.

The White House encountered a major breach, a potential threat to our national security like never before -- nah, we're kidding, and we sorta mean that literally this time.

A very young boy was too little to be held back Tuesday by a North Lawn gate at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The fencing is generally an effective way to keep tourists far away from the President's residence, but this kid found a way onto White House grounds.

It's unclear exactly how the toddler got by, but, presumably, he just wormed through the metal rods -- as he certainly looks small enough to squeeze in without issue.

In any case, this little rascal doesn't appear to have gotten far. As you can see in these pics, WH security intercepted him pretty quickly -- and then escorted him back to his parents on the north side. In one photo, he looks like he's being carried by 2 guards -- almost like he's getting a perp walk or something. 😅

Of course, in reality, they were handling him with care ... the boy doesn't look any older than 4 or so. It also seems the security personnel had a good laugh over the whole thing.

Federal law enforcement sources tell TMZ the boy is Canadian and had stopped at the White House with his family to take a picture.

Like we said, the little guy was reunited with Mama and Papa Bear on the other side -- who appeared relieved ... and maybe a little embarrassed. All's well that ends well, though ... the Secret Service called their impromptu guest a "curious young visitor" who triggered their alarms instantly and who was returned without issue. Sources said Secret Service interviewed the family and determined they posed no threat.

Attorney Ben Crump says it's a true miracle Ralph Yarl is alive after the Black 16-year-old was shot in Kansas City after ringing the wrong doorbell -- but he adds, the charges against the shooter point to a larger problem in America.

Crump joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to talk all about the aftermath of 84-year-old Andrew Lester shooting Yarl in the head and near the chest-area ... after he had accidentally gone to the wrong house to pick up his younger siblings.

Ben tells us, it is a blessing Yarl survived and is in stable condition and recovering at home with his family. He adds, he hopes Ralph has a full recovery -- mentally and physically -- from all the trauma he's endured.

However, Crump was less hopeful about the shooter being held accountable. FYI, Lester was charged with 2 felonies on Monday - assault in the 1st degree and armed criminal action but he was NOT charged with attempted murder.

Crump tells us prosecutors say they charged Lester with the most they believe would result in a conviction ... meanwhile, he says Black folks are charged to the max and it's not a question about whether they would get convicted.

He also notes police questioned Lester for 20 minutes and let him go to sleep the same night -- something he calls "unbelievable". BC says we never see this happen when races are reversed.

Celebs and folks all over have rallied behind Ralph and his family ... donating to his GoFundMe and showing their support. However Ben says America has a long way to go.

In his eyes, the country has a larger issue with using guns to handle differences. He says we shoot first and ask questions later ... whether it's police or citizens.

Country star Jessie James Decker is calling out United Airlines for its alleged treatment of her pregnant sister ... who, according to Jessie, was forced to get on her hands and knees to pick up some popcorn.

Even before Jessie sounded off, the incident went viral because her sister Sydney is married to Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass -- and he was first to rip into United, claiming flight attendants made his wife get on the floor to pick up the kernels their daughter dropped.

With the online backlash in full swing, Jessie's adding to it by revealing on IG that Sydney's "five months pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children."

Jessie continued ... "The flight attendant came up to Sydney with a trash bag, and a wet wipe, telling her the captain wants Syd to clean up every drop" -- adding they called the scattered food a safety hazard.

She says Sydney was left in tears after her clean-up duty ... and now there's a push on Twitter for United to apologize.

Many chalked it up to laziness on the attendant's part, but there are some people backing United -- one user tweeted, "Commercial airlines are not your children’s playground. Pick it up and take responsibility for your kids."

We covered it all in the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms!

Before this smiling boy was a fitness app owner and collecting red roses on "The Bachelor," he was just playing basketball, sitting on his momma's lap and cheesin' for the camera, while growing up in San Diego, California.

Walking out of the limo with his side-swept hair, he made his reality television debut on Hannah Brown's season of "The Bachelorette" and although he wasn't so lucky in finding love the first go-around, he headed off to "Bachelor in Paradise" and ended up on one knee!

Need one more clue? He was spotted at Coachella, weekend 1, with his fiancé Hannah Godwin!

Leonardo DiCaprio was back in the desert this weekend trying to be as low-key as possible -- but his typical incognito look gave him away ... as did the 2 beauties he was hanging with.

The actor was spotted out and about late Saturday night and early into the wee hours of Sunday as Day 2 at Coachella came to a close. While the Empire Polo Club might've closed its gates following the headliners' sets ... there was another party to hit right next door.

Of course, we're talking about Levi's and Tequila Don Julio's Neon Carnival -- which was hosted just a stone's throw away at the Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, CA ... basically, a mini-Coachella.

As we just mentioned ... Leo was in good company -- hanging out with a couple of young women as they all got nice and snug amid the packed crowd. LDC was rocking his usual black baseball cap and COVID-friendly face mask ... which he pulled down in this rare instance. He also eventually lifted his head enough to see that gorgeous face of his.

Hey, bud! Good to see ya.

Looks like DiCaprio was with some friends for this outing too -- and by the looks of his smile ... he was having a ball. Remember, he's a Coachella regular ... having made appearances for the past several years -- and he's usually rolling with a hottie or two.

While he may have been the biggest star on the scene Saturday ... he was far from the only famous person hitting up the Neon Carnival on the late night -- there were lots of others.

Just to give a sense of who else popped in ... Lil Nas X, Janelle Monae, Camila Cabello, Metro Boomin, Lil Baby, Future, Teyana Taylor, Shay Mitchell, Anderson .Paak, Coi Leray, Olivia Culpo, Glorilla, Yo Gotti ... and a helluva lot more. A who's who, really.

Now the real question ... who's Leo chatting up though??? 👀

"Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" alum Roccstar thwarted a would-be intruder, and TMZ Hip Hop has obtained video showing how the alarming incident went down.

Security footage from Monday night shows the suspect arriving at Roccstar's front door while dragging an axe and hopping inside unlocked luxury vehicles in the driveway.

We broke the OG story ... Roccstar was asleep at 5 AM when an alarm prompted him to go outside, and as the video shows ... he ended up coming face-to-face with his unwanted visitor. Roccstar was armed, and as you can see ... he got the suspect down on the ground at gunpoint!!!

We spoke to Roccstar now that his blood pressure's settled ... and he gave us a vivid rundown of the encounter.

He says he's grateful his family's safe -- his two sons were home -- and amazed at the restraint he was able to show while detaining the guy until cops could arrive.

According to Roccstar, he awoke Monday morning to a whopping 11 security alerts on his phone and images of the guy prowling around his yard.

He says he called his gated community's security guard and the cops and then spotted the man on top of his garage. Roccstar says he fired shots in the air until the man cowered in fear.

Roccstar says he then ordered him off the roof, and pistol-whipped him to subdue him.

The suspect was booked for attempted burglary and vandalism -- and, now that the incident is behind him, Roccstar says he's got beef with the community's HOA and security.

He says the guy breached two gates, and Roccstar wants to know where his big bucks for home protection are being spent.

NBA star Miles Bridges has been suspended 30 games by the NBA ... for a domestic violence incident involving the mother of his kids last summer.

But, because 25-year-old Bridges missed the entire season (he was unsigned), the NBA has credited him with serving 20 games, meaning he only will have to sit out 10 more games next season.

"The incident occurred on June 27, 2022, in Los Angeles, after which Mr. Bridges was arrested and charged with multiple offenses."

"On November 3, 2022, Mr. Bridges entered a plea of no contest to a felony domestic violence charge and the remaining counts against him were dismissed," the league announced Friday afternoon.

Shortly after the incident, Mychelle Johnson claimed she suffered injuries to her face, arms, legs and back.

The NBA says they conducted their own investigation and conferred with D.V. experts, and that's how they arrived at the penalty.

"The 30-game suspension is based on all facts and circumstances of this matter and considers the conduct and its result, as well as the outcome of the criminal matter, among other factors."

Bridges was arrested on June 29 and ultimately charged with felony domestic violence ... and while he always maintained his innocence (Miles claims his ex has incessantly harassed him), he pleaded no contest to the charge in court.

The NBA star was sentenced to 3 years probation and 100 hours of community service, as well as requiring he take parenting classes.

Miles was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, after starring under Tom Izzo and Michigan State. Bridges has averaged 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists over the course of his career.