Kaleidoscope Eyes
March 18th, 2009, 02:19 PM
By Staff report
Originally published 11:03 a.m., March 18, 2009
Updated 11:03 a.m., March 18, 2009
The father of 15-year-old murder defendant Brandon McInerney was found dead this morning at his home in Silver Strand.
William McInerney, 45, was found dead about 7:30 a.m. by a friend who was picking him up to take him to his son's preliminary hearing today, said Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Stevens.
Stevens said an autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause of death. There was no indication of trauma, injury or foul play, he said.
The preliminary hearing for his son was abruptly delayed this morning. Brandon's mother, Kendra McInerney, appeared distraught as she left the courtroom today.
Brandon is accused of first-degree murder and a hate crime in the shooting death of classmate Larry King, 15, in February 2008 at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.
Brandon McInerney, who has been held at county juvenile hall since his arrest, is being notified this morning about his father's death, said Alan Hammerand, chief deputy probation officer for juvenile facilities.
"He will be meeting with family and psychiatric staff," Hammerand said.
William McInerney was facing criminal charges himself stemming from an alleged recent altercation with his sister.
A judge ruled earlier this month that there was enough evidence to hold McInerney for trial on suspicion of threatening to kill his sister during a domestic dispute last month. He was facing felony charges of making criminal threats, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, and possessing or owning a firearm within 10 years of being convicted of domestic violence.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
The sister, Maura McInerney, testified that he became furious and threatened her after she was unable to wake him up on the afternoon of Feb. 18 for a scheduled visit with his jailed son.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/mar/18/mcinerney-found-dead/?partner=yahoo_headlines
For those who don't recall or never read it, a link to the article on the shooting can be found here (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/15/14-year-old-faces-murder-charge/).
Wow. I can't help but feel bad for the kid. I can't say he didn't earn the situation he's put himself in, but this is just so tragic. I've kept up with all of the developments in this case because I knew the victim indirectly and I live a hop skip and a jump from Oxnard. E.O. Green is the middle school my mom went to as a kid. The consensus is that this kid grew up with a lot of violence in the home (makes sense if his dad threatened to kill his own sister, yes?). Kids learn more by observation than by if mommy and daddy tells them not to do something. "Do as I say, not as I do," is a hard one for kids to learn. From a young age, he may have learned that violence is ok to settle some problems, although he was sure old enough to know right from wrong in this case (and did). He pulled the trigger, not his parents. Still, I can't help but wonder if this would have happened if he had been raised in a more caring environment. Some psychological evaluations were done earlier in the proceedings, and as far as I know there were no signs that he was mentally incapable of understanding his actions, for any reason. It's unfortunate that this happens to people, but its how we as humans learn what behavior is "acceptable" and not.
Now, the whole situation seems even more tragic because the hearing has to be postponed again (don't remember why it was before). This whole thing is being dragged out, the kid doesn't know what'll happen to him and can't even live at home until then. And now someone who works at the detention center is going to come in and tell him his dad is dead and that he wont get his hearing until a later date. Even if he gets off easy when sentencing rolls around, this kid is going to need some serious help.
I'll never understand what he did, or be able to condone it. But damn, how tragic.
Originally published 11:03 a.m., March 18, 2009
Updated 11:03 a.m., March 18, 2009
The father of 15-year-old murder defendant Brandon McInerney was found dead this morning at his home in Silver Strand.
William McInerney, 45, was found dead about 7:30 a.m. by a friend who was picking him up to take him to his son's preliminary hearing today, said Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Stevens.
Stevens said an autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause of death. There was no indication of trauma, injury or foul play, he said.
The preliminary hearing for his son was abruptly delayed this morning. Brandon's mother, Kendra McInerney, appeared distraught as she left the courtroom today.
Brandon is accused of first-degree murder and a hate crime in the shooting death of classmate Larry King, 15, in February 2008 at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.
Brandon McInerney, who has been held at county juvenile hall since his arrest, is being notified this morning about his father's death, said Alan Hammerand, chief deputy probation officer for juvenile facilities.
"He will be meeting with family and psychiatric staff," Hammerand said.
William McInerney was facing criminal charges himself stemming from an alleged recent altercation with his sister.
A judge ruled earlier this month that there was enough evidence to hold McInerney for trial on suspicion of threatening to kill his sister during a domestic dispute last month. He was facing felony charges of making criminal threats, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, and possessing or owning a firearm within 10 years of being convicted of domestic violence.
He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
The sister, Maura McInerney, testified that he became furious and threatened her after she was unable to wake him up on the afternoon of Feb. 18 for a scheduled visit with his jailed son.
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/mar/18/mcinerney-found-dead/?partner=yahoo_headlines
For those who don't recall or never read it, a link to the article on the shooting can be found here (http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/15/14-year-old-faces-murder-charge/).
Wow. I can't help but feel bad for the kid. I can't say he didn't earn the situation he's put himself in, but this is just so tragic. I've kept up with all of the developments in this case because I knew the victim indirectly and I live a hop skip and a jump from Oxnard. E.O. Green is the middle school my mom went to as a kid. The consensus is that this kid grew up with a lot of violence in the home (makes sense if his dad threatened to kill his own sister, yes?). Kids learn more by observation than by if mommy and daddy tells them not to do something. "Do as I say, not as I do," is a hard one for kids to learn. From a young age, he may have learned that violence is ok to settle some problems, although he was sure old enough to know right from wrong in this case (and did). He pulled the trigger, not his parents. Still, I can't help but wonder if this would have happened if he had been raised in a more caring environment. Some psychological evaluations were done earlier in the proceedings, and as far as I know there were no signs that he was mentally incapable of understanding his actions, for any reason. It's unfortunate that this happens to people, but its how we as humans learn what behavior is "acceptable" and not.
Now, the whole situation seems even more tragic because the hearing has to be postponed again (don't remember why it was before). This whole thing is being dragged out, the kid doesn't know what'll happen to him and can't even live at home until then. And now someone who works at the detention center is going to come in and tell him his dad is dead and that he wont get his hearing until a later date. Even if he gets off easy when sentencing rolls around, this kid is going to need some serious help.
I'll never understand what he did, or be able to condone it. But damn, how tragic.