Kaleidoscope Eyes
February 14th, 2008, 10:27 PM
LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors filed a charge of murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements Thursday against a 14-year-old boy who will be tried as an adult in the school shooting of a classmate.
The victim has been declared brain dead, but remains on a ventilator.
The charge against Brandon David McInerney was upgraded from attempted murder after authorities learned that victim Lawrence King's condition was not survivable.
"When we got confirmation that he in fact was brain dead, there's state law in California that says that's good enough," said Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox.
The murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years to life, with an additional maximum of 25 years for the firearms enhancement and an added one to three years for the hate-crime enhancement, Fox said.
McInerney made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon, but his hearing was continued until March 21. He was ordered held on $770,000 bail.
McInerney's lawyer, Brian A. Vogel, said he will still try to have the suspect tried as a juvenile.
"If, in fact, the crime had happened three weeks ago and one day, he would be presumed of not being capable of forming adult criminal intent," Vogel told KNBC.
The felony complaint filed by prosecutors did not contain the reasons they were seeking a hate crime enhancement, and Fox said she could not reveal them.
"There is a category of protected persons listed in the hate-crime statute -- race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation," Fox said.
The eighth-grader, who was shot Tuesday during a class at E.O. Green Junior High, was pronounced brain dead at 2 p.m. at St. John's Regional Medical Center after examination by two neurosurgeons, Ventura County Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Stevens said.
An unidentified 14-year-old classmate arrested near the school after the shooting was booked for investigation of attempted murder on Tuesday.
Police said a handgun was used in the attack, which occurred with more than 20 other students in the room.
About three-quarters of the junior high's 1,150 student body showed up Wednesday for school, where psychologists held counseling sessions, Hueneme School District Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg said.
"We're trying to get the children back into their normal routines as quickly as possible," he said.
The school is in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.
"He was just an innocent little boy who was trying to live his life," a student told KNBC.
King had been under the care of the Ventura County foster care system and lived at Casa Pacifica, a nearby center for abused and neglected children, said Steve Elson, the facility's chief executive.
"We're are all stunned and it's just an unspeakable tragedy," Elson said. "This is a very big traumatic experience for all of us."
King had been receiving help from school support staff, Dannenberg said. He had no details on the type of assistance the teen needed.
"He was seeing a number of people trying to help him deal with his own personal issues," he said.
I have an in with Casa Pacifica, who tells us that the kid was transgendered. They had just moved him to E.O. Green to avoid bullying at his former school.
The victim has been declared brain dead, but remains on a ventilator.
The charge against Brandon David McInerney was upgraded from attempted murder after authorities learned that victim Lawrence King's condition was not survivable.
"When we got confirmation that he in fact was brain dead, there's state law in California that says that's good enough," said Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox.
The murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 25 years to life, with an additional maximum of 25 years for the firearms enhancement and an added one to three years for the hate-crime enhancement, Fox said.
McInerney made his initial court appearance Thursday afternoon, but his hearing was continued until March 21. He was ordered held on $770,000 bail.
McInerney's lawyer, Brian A. Vogel, said he will still try to have the suspect tried as a juvenile.
"If, in fact, the crime had happened three weeks ago and one day, he would be presumed of not being capable of forming adult criminal intent," Vogel told KNBC.
The felony complaint filed by prosecutors did not contain the reasons they were seeking a hate crime enhancement, and Fox said she could not reveal them.
"There is a category of protected persons listed in the hate-crime statute -- race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation," Fox said.
The eighth-grader, who was shot Tuesday during a class at E.O. Green Junior High, was pronounced brain dead at 2 p.m. at St. John's Regional Medical Center after examination by two neurosurgeons, Ventura County Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Stevens said.
An unidentified 14-year-old classmate arrested near the school after the shooting was booked for investigation of attempted murder on Tuesday.
Police said a handgun was used in the attack, which occurred with more than 20 other students in the room.
About three-quarters of the junior high's 1,150 student body showed up Wednesday for school, where psychologists held counseling sessions, Hueneme School District Superintendent Jerry Dannenberg said.
"We're trying to get the children back into their normal routines as quickly as possible," he said.
The school is in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.
"He was just an innocent little boy who was trying to live his life," a student told KNBC.
King had been under the care of the Ventura County foster care system and lived at Casa Pacifica, a nearby center for abused and neglected children, said Steve Elson, the facility's chief executive.
"We're are all stunned and it's just an unspeakable tragedy," Elson said. "This is a very big traumatic experience for all of us."
King had been receiving help from school support staff, Dannenberg said. He had no details on the type of assistance the teen needed.
"He was seeing a number of people trying to help him deal with his own personal issues," he said.
I have an in with Casa Pacifica, who tells us that the kid was transgendered. They had just moved him to E.O. Green to avoid bullying at his former school.