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Loading ...Teen pleads not guilty in Larry King slaying
08.08.2008 7:19am EDT
(Oxnard, California) A 14-year-old Southern California boy has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his gay classmate.
Brandon McInerney entered the plea in Ventura County Superior Court on Thursday. McInerney is charged as an adult with first degree murder and a hate crime for the Feb. 12 fatal shooting of 15-year-old Larry King at their junior high school in Oxnard.Defense attorney William Quest said in court that the charges are “essentially a death sentence” for McInerney, and wants the boy tried on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
McInerney faces 51 years to life without the possibility of parole if convicted.
In April, a coalition of 27 LGBT rights groups called on the district attorney not to prosecute McInerney as an adult.
“The facts in this matter seem clear: one boy killed another in a climate of intolerance and fear about sexual orientation and gender expression. The alleged perpetrator, who turned 14 years old less than three weeks before the shooting, should be held accountable for his actions. But we support the principles underlying our juvenile justice system that treat children differently than adults and provide greater hope and opportunity for rehabilitation,” the groups said in a joint statement.
King was honored earlier this year at schools across the country as part of the National Day of Silence.
Several classmates have said King would wear feminine attire, making him an unpopular figure with other boys at his campus. Some students said that McInerney was upset that King had flirted with him.
McInerney’s attorney has suggested that some of the blame for the murder must rest with the school. He told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year that while the school allowed King to explore his sexuality, it did nothing to quell the unrest among other students.
“Brandon is not some crazed lunatic,” Quest told The Times. “This was a confluence of tragic events that could have been stopped. If there is partial blame in other places, let’s not throw away Brandon for the rest of his life.”
King was shot in the head during a morning class. More than 20 other students were in the room at the time. McInerney was arrested shortly after the shooting.
King died in hospital after his mother agreed to have life-support removed.
It’s sad that the attorney is blaming the school system for allowing Larry to “be” the gender he wanted to be. If anything, more tolerance and education is needed, not more rules around making everyone the same! And the claim that boys being hit on somehow justifies his actions is ridiculous and sexist.
bottom line, person A shot person B. No reasons, no passing the blame, no ifs ands or buts.
Why are we NOT demanding to know what kind of religious programming this kid had, both from his parents and his ‘church’. There are laws against people contributing to a crime. It’s called ‘aiding and abetting.’ The murder of an innocent through brainwashing,programming and religious propaganda happens way too often for the hatemongers to get away with it anymore.
Ironically, while Brandon is bent over the bunkbed of his jail mate, taking it forcebly ‘up the butt’, he may find out just how much he really likes it!
Who should be put on trial here is not only this child, but James Dobson, Pat Robertson, George W. Bush, Cheney for not speaking up for his very gay daughter, Fred Phelps, Ann Coulter, the Pope, ( unfortunately Jesse Helms and Falwell are no longer around to participate) and all other Right Wing Evangelical haters and pseudo religious people. Plus, of course, his parents, the school district for negligence and whoever was in charge of the gun he used.
The problem here is one of tolerance in our society that judge others that are “different” from the so-called norm. This includes a good portion of American society and the very distorted views perpetrated by religions. Until “that is so gay”, “you fag” and all associated terms are no longer tolerated within our society and schools then this sort of discrimination and homophobia will continue.
To me this is an outrage but not an outrage for the kid that did the deed as he is a child and should be tried as a child and not as an adult. Another form of take revenge by a corrupt society. He should be held accountable for his actions as a child but his parents and all of those that taught him that being “gay” is cause enough to kill should be in the docket with him and go first.
FIRST OFF, SINCE THE DEATH PENALTY(ACCORDING TO THE STORY) IS NOT EVEN AN OPTION THE FORTH COMING TRIAL IS IN TROUBLE ALREADY. BRANDON, HIS PARENTS OR THE DA SHOULD PETITION THE COURT FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE CURRENT DEFENSE LAWYER(WHO IS BY HIS OWN STATEMENT EITHER IGNORANT OF THE LAW OR AN IDIOT OR BOTH) & THE APPOINTMENT OF COMPETENT LEGAL REPRESENTATION. SINCE THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE DOUBT ABOUT HIS HAVING COMMITED THIS MURDER AND A CONVICTION SEEMS LIKELY (EVEN UNDER CALIFORNIA’S CONVOLUTED LEGAL SYSTEM!)THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF TIME FOR COUNSELING AND REHABILITATION. UNFORTUNATELY GIVIN THE CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE, THE RELIGIOUS FANATICS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO THE EASE WITH WHICH GAY PEOPLE ARE PERSECUTED AND MARGINALIZED WILL PROBABLY BE DOING THE JOB! I DON’T SEE ANY GOOD FOR BRANDON IN OUR NEAR FUTURE.
A MORE POSITIVE ACTION WHICH MIGHT BRING ABOUT SOME MEANINGFUL CHANGE WOULD BE FOR SOME RICH CALIFORNIA GAY (OR STRAIGHT!) TO BANKROLL LARRY’S FAMILY IN A CIVIL SUIT AGAINST THE STATE, COUNTY, SCHOOL DISTRICT, PRICIPAL, GUIDANCE COUNSELER, TEACHERS, THE GUN OWNER, BRANDON & HIS FAMILY AND ANY RELIGIOUS SECT THAT COULD BE PROVEN TO HAVE INFLUENCED BRANDON, HIS PARENTS OR ANY OF THE ABOVE TO THE POINT OF FACILITATING THE MURDER. A MOTHER OF A SLAIN BLACK MAN DECIMATED A KKK GROUP THAT WAY SEVERAL YEARS AGO BY TAKING ALL THEIR ASSETS. I THINK ITS WORTH A TRY! BETTER THAN PISSING AND MOANING AND TILTING AT STRAW MEN!
As a lesbian, I am outraged when I learn of any hate crime. We are a people who are in the minority and Monica’s wise analogy comparing the situation to the flirtations of a girl that Brandon wasn’t interested in really makes sense. A girl would be brushed off, yet Larry was killed.
As a teacher,though, I understand child development and the harsh world that kids [especially junior high age] are stuck in, and my heart goes out to Brandon. If you can put your foot in his shoe for just one day: he goes into school, a guy flirts with him in front of his friends, he is not interested, but the other guys will definitely tease him, maybe to the point of harassment, and not back down. Later, they may egg him on to prove to Larry [or them] that he’s not interested–I’m not saying that they did do this, but kids are under tremendous peer pressure and influence.
This does not, in any way exhonorate the guilt of what Brandon did, but trying him as an adult is very extreme. Peter is right, people go through stages of development, and some don’t reach an adult level of maturity until they are even 25!
I am just as sick of hate crimes, and school shootings as everybody else, but I feel that Brandon could have a chance for understanding what he did wrong, and he may even change his mind about us if we give him a chance . . .
Or maybe he would just kill another gay person….
This entire ordeal has brought tears to my eyes multiple times. When I first heard about it, I was shocked and deeply saddened. Then hearing Ellen’s now-famous remarks about the killing has made me cry more every time I hear it. As tragic as this was, though, to try Brandon as an adult brings even more tears to my eyes. I am not by any means justifying his actions. As a queer man who has faced homophobic violence personally and vicariously through far too many friends, I agree that there needs to be justice. But condemning a young man to potentially a lifetime of jail doesn’t solve anything. No one learns or benefits from this method of “justice.” He of course needs to face some sort of consequences for his actions, but these actions should be rehabilitating. How are we going to change the world if all we do is segregate (jail, especially when talking about issues like this is just another form of segregation). We need to start taking responsibility for what we do to our youth. We (and by we, I mean society in general) teach them that (1) violence is an acceptable way to voice your discomfort, and (2) that queer people are so dangerous that they deserve violence, but then when they act on these teachings (especially at such a young age where their moral and cognitive development are not fully formed) we try to try them as an adult? How is this justice?
This was truly a tragic and senseless murder of a young man who chose to express himself in the only way he knew how.
While I acknowledge that the perpetrator of this crime was only 14, he was old enough to know that what he was doing was wrong and should be punished accordingly.
Brandon McInerney willingly chose to go down the path of hatred and intolerence and at 14 has already become the homophobe that Society has made of him and has little chance of being reformed.
He wantonly took a life through his homophobic actions and I find it hard to sympathize with his plight now.