Teen Pleads Not Guilty in Murder of Gay Classmate

[DarkWingedAngel]

KTLA News

October 4, 2008

OXNARD -- A 14-year-old boy pleaded not guilty Thursday to the murder of his gay classmate.

Brandon McInerney is charged as an adult with first degree murder and a hate crime sentencing enhancement for the Feb. 12 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Larry King at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard.

The teenager faces 51 years to life without the possibility of parole if convicted.

According to defense attorney William Quest, the severity of the charges amount to a death sentence for his client.

"This is essentially a death sentence for Brandon McInerney," said Quest, who is asking that the boy be tried on a lesser charge of manslaughter. "That is the only way Brandon does not die in prison."

However prosecutors say charges, including the hate crime enhancement is justified. Investigators seized white supremacist materials, including Nazi swastikas, from the bedroom of McInerney, in the days after the shooting.

But Quest argues McInerney had the items because he was writing a school paper on Adolf Hitler. He also shared an interest in the German military with other family members, Quest said.

McInerney has been held at county juvenile hall since his arrest.

The arraignment had been delayed several times as Quest and McInerney challenged a California initiative giving prosecutors the exclusive authority to charge defendants as adults.

King's parents say they support the adult charge.

"He went into a classroom in front of other students and shot my son in the back of the head twice," father Greg King said. "For is age to be taken into consideration - he didn't take my son's age into consideration."

Quest said his client is remorseful, and doesn't grasp the gravity of his situation.

"Going from being on the beach to being locked in a cage until he dies, it's hard for anyone to contemplate that, much less a 14-year-old," Quest said.

[Bobby]

Okay, it's sad that he's dead. But who says he was killed because he was gay?

This is ridiculous.

[Sugaree]

It's a hate crime. The teen that killed him obviously didn't know what he was thinking.

[Gavin]

I think i heard about this awhile go, so tragic.

[DarkWingedAngel]

i don't think you did because it is today's news but idk

[Mzor203]

Bobby, what happened was, there was a kid named Larry King in his school, who was completely gay, and he was very open about, dressed really weirdly, put on makeup even. There was no one in the school who didn't know he was gay, probably. And then one day this kid stood up in class, went over to Larry, and shot him twice in the head in plain view of everyone. Then he just slowly walked out.

There's no way it wasn't a hate crime. It was cruel and dispicable, and he deserves the sentence.

Oh, and Desi, this story appeared about 2 months ago. The legal stuff is just still going on.

[DarkWingedAngel]

oh ok

[Gavin]

It happened in February of 2008, so some months ago now. The legal stuff are still on-going.

[Attax]

That is horrible. If this kid does not go punished then it is grounds for future hate crimes to take place because of 'innocence' or something like that, idk, but what I do know is that what happened was wrong and we must make a statement or else who is stopping other hate crimes?

[The Batman]

I don't think this kid deserves life in prison. There are people who have done a lot worse and are out of jail right now. The kid is 14 and he's about to have his future taken from him. I know that's what he did to the other teen but still since when does, "an eye for an eye," come as justice. I think this kid needs to spend years in prison and life in therapy. What he did was wrong but instead of locking him up forever they should try and give him a chance to help this community.

[Mzor203]

I disagree Thomas. Maybe 50 years is a little extensive, but he needs to be locked up for a good while. What he did was absolutely horrible, and what's more, he did it in the middle of class, where everybody was watching! Who would do that and not expect to be thrown in jail? Nobody, hopefully, or else they don't know how the world works. He knew perfectly well what was coming to him, and he deserved it for going and doing it anyways.

[The Batman]

I know he needs to go to jail that's why I said he needs to spend years in prison.

[Mzor203]

Oops, sorry, I saw the first part of the post, and then saw "I don't think he needs to spend years in prison and life therapy..." I thought I saw "don't" when it wasn't there. Sorry.

[Hyper]

Right if your writing a paper on Hitler you definately collect swastikas.. I bet if they'd open up his computer and look at browsing history.. Well it would put it

The fact is if he goes to jail for just 2 years he'll come out even worse. An educated criminal most problably a member of a nazi gang

And from max security prisons ganghood is for life

So he'll his gang outside of prison

Or he'll just get killed in prison and thats it

Either way its fucked for him and society

[The Resurrected One]

Fuck that shit. Brandon needs to fucking die.

And the world needs to work together to stop gay hate. We'd have like a gay version of Martin Luther King going up and saying "I have a dream", and then homophobia would, if not end, be taken down a very great deal.

[Attax]

I will start writing my speech now!

[Techno Monster]

That is just wrong!

[rsc4life]

Kids like this. Make me sad.

[Nihilus]

well what he did was wrong and he should be in jail for life.

[cookiegirl]

I think this boy has been brought up they way alot of people now days have.. that gay is WRONG. i have many gay and bisexual friends i myself have experimented with that type of thing (found out its not for me!) but alot of my friends act different around me now. Why are we telling people who they can and cant love. i am a christian i know the bible says man was made for woman but it also tells us not to swear or use the lords name in vain, not to steal, commit murder.. ect. you get my point any way back to what i ment to say this child needs to know what he did was wrong there is not if ands or buts about it he needs to be punished. maybe not life but he needs alot of time to think

[ShatteredWings]

Did the boy do it??

I've never really heard of a murder charge being longer than 10-20 years. I think they're going a little extreme, even if he DID do it.

[Kaleidoscope Eyes]

I live in a town maybe 10 miles from Oxnard. Yes, Brandon did it. Everyone in the classroom that day saw him shoot this kid point-blank in the back of the head and those kids have probably been in therapy ever since then. I think they should be considered as unintended victims in this case, because their lives will not go back to "normal" for a while. He even told someone the day before that he was going to do it. They didn't take him seriously, but I believe that Larry was giving a presentation in English class, and Brandon turned to his neighbor and said something to the effect of, "This is going to be his last English class." There has been some question about Brandon's home life, apparantly it's not the friendliest environment, and he's been taught a lot of hate over the years. Who buys a swastika to do a written report on Hitler? You do research, you check out books from the library, maybe you draw a swastika on the cover of your report for decoration but you don't buy white supremacy paraphernalia. If anything, you might include pictures, but there's no reason to invest in the movement. He's old enough to realize it's not a good thing, and it's not in any way essential to research. I think it shows that his perception of right and wrong, as defined by society, is a little different, and that difference may have contributed to his thinking he could kill someone and not face these consequences. Also, I believe the article may have been misinformed, as Brandon turned 15 a few weeks before the murder. I remember that being an argument of his lawyer when they were deciding whether to charge him as an adult or not. He said that he'd only been 15 for 3 weeks, so obviously there was this massive difference. 15 is the youngest they typically consider to be tried as an adult. I think that he was old enough to know right from wrong regardless of when his birthday is.

So, basically, the sentence is so high because a) it was premeditated b)the use of a firearm makes the crime more severe in the eyes of the prosecutor c) so does the fact that it was a hate crime and d) he is being tried as an adult.

Larry was one of the nicest kids that most people would ever meet, and I cannot believe that this kid could plead not guilty when there is a classroom full of eyewitnesses, and he was the one caught running away from campus with a gun in his hand. It just seems such an insult to Larry's memory that he could think that will all go away if he says he didn't do it. I don't care what his sentence ends up being, how many years he spends in jail. I don't want to believe that he could possible do this again after all of this mess, and I hope that he is no longer a danger to society now that he realizes that actions have consequences. But I do think he needs to be convicted. He is not an innocent child who didn't know what he was doing. It takes conscious thought to plan this beforehand, to procure the gun (obviously it wasn't his own, he had to take it, probably from a parent), to tell someone about it, and then to actually do it. Brandon simply suffered from that same I-am-invincible syndrome most teens seem to get at some point. I couldn't take his life, or lock him up for life; I'd like to believe that some criminals can be rehabilitated and that the younger they are the more likely that is to happen. But he needs to know how serious this truly is. Just because he doesn't seem to get it doesn't mean he's any less guilty.


I hate to rant, but given that this happened in my area and indirectly knowing the victim, I feel pretty strongly about this.

[Mzor203]

Larry was one of the nicest kids that most people would ever meet, and I cannot believe that this kid could plead not guilty when there is a classroom full of eyewitnesses, and he was the one caught running away from campus with a gun in his hand.

I agree with you Jessi, especially on this part. How are you supposed to expect that you can plead not guilty when you stand up, point a gun at someone's head, and shoot him, twice, in front of a nentire class of people. It doesn't make any sense to me.

[The Batman]

What about the parents? I don't think that they should go off free, because I think they influenced his thoughts. One day he probably could have came home from school and told his dad about the gay guy at school, and his dad probably said something along the lines of,"He doesn't deserve to live." or "He's an abomination to god." Whatever he could have said wasn't good and it could have easily drove this kid to wanting to kill Larry. I think something should happen to these parents who condone hate in their homes. There is no way in hell they could not have known about the stuff he kept in his room.

[rsc4life]

girl;370525']Did the boy do it??

I've never really heard of a murder charge being longer than 10-20 years. I think they're going a little extreme, even if he DID do it.

But it was a hate crime, and he had been planning it.

[ShatteredWings]

girl;370525']Did the boy do it??

I've never really heard of a murder charge being longer than 10-20 years. I think they're going a little extreme, even if he DID do it.

I live in a town maybe 10 miles from Oxnard. Yes, Brandon did it. Everyone in the classroom that day saw him shoot this kid point-blank in the back of the head and those kids have probably been in therapy ever since then. I think they should be considered as unintended victims in this case, because their lives will not go back to "normal" for a while. He even told someone the day before that he was going to do it. They didn't take him seriously, but I believe that Larry was giving a presentation in English class, and Brandon turned to his neighbor and said something to the effect of, "This is going to be his last English class." There has been some question about Brandon's home life, apparantly it's not the friendliest environment, and he's been taught a lot of hate over the years. Who buys a swastika to do a written report on Hitler? You do research, you check out books from the library, maybe you draw a swastika on the cover of your report for decoration but you don't buy white supremacy paraphernalia. If anything, you might include pictures, but there's no reason to invest in the movement. He's old enough to realize it's not a good thing, and it's not in any way essential to research. I think it shows that his perception of right and wrong, as defined by society, is a little different, and that difference may have contributed to his thinking he could kill someone and not face these consequences. Also, I believe the article may have been misinformed, as Brandon turned 15 a few weeks before the murder. I remember that being an argument of his lawyer when they were deciding whether to charge him as an adult or not. He said that he'd only been 15 for 3 weeks, so obviously there was this massive difference. 15 is the youngest they typically consider to be tried as an adult. I think that he was old enough to know right from wrong regardless of when his birthday is.

So, basically, the sentence is so high because a) it was premeditated b)the use of a firearm makes the crime more severe in the eyes of the prosecutor c) so does the fact that it was a hate crime and d) he is being tried as an adult.

Larry was one of the nicest kids that most people would ever meet, and I cannot believe that this kid could plead not guilty when there is a classroom full of eyewitnesses, and he was the one caught running away from campus with a gun in his hand. It just seems such an insult to Larry's memory that he could think that will all go away if he says he didn't do it. I don't care what his sentence ends up being, how many years he spends in jail. I don't want to believe that he could possible do this again after all of this mess, and I hope that he is no longer a danger to society now that he realizes that actions have consequences. But I do think he needs to be convicted. He is not an innocent child who didn't know what he was doing. It takes conscious thought to plan this beforehand, to procure the gun (obviously it wasn't his own, he had to take it, probably from a parent), to tell someone about it, and then to actually do it. Brandon simply suffered from that same I-am-invincible syndrome most teens seem to get at some point. I couldn't take his life, or lock him up for life; I'd like to believe that some criminals can be rehabilitated and that the younger they are the more likely that is to happen. But he needs to know how serious this truly is. Just because he doesn't seem to get it doesn't mean he's any less guilty.


I hate to rant, but given that this happened in my area and indirectly knowing the victim, I feel pretty strongly about this.

okay, i stand corrected.
wow.
that's rediclious

[The Resurrected One]

I'm sure Larry was a great guy. Sometimes thinking about this whole thing makes me upset. There is a tribute video to him on youtube, and as fucked up as the people there are, some people have left some horrible homophobic comments. It hurts me too much and even ended up making me cry.

Yeah.