California teen admits killing 15-year-old gay student

[News_Editor]

California teen admits killing 15-year-old gay student

2011-11-23 08:49:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

LOS ANGELES (BNO NEWS) -- A Southern California teen has pled guilty to the killing of a gay classmate three years ago and will serve a total of 25 years in prison, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.

Brandon McInerney, who is now 17, pleaded guilty to killing Lawrence King under the Penal Code sections for both murder and voluntary manslaughter and admitted to using a firearm as part of the crime. He will serve 11 years for manslaughter and 10 years for the use of a firearm, according to Venture County District Attorney Gregory Totten.

"[McInerney] will serve the entire 21 years without time off for good behavior and will not receive time off his sentence for the three years and nine months he has spent in juvenile hall before sentencing," the prosecutor's office said in a statement released on Tuesday.

McInerney initially faced a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in prison, but a judge declared a mistrial in September after seven jurors voted for a conviction of manslaughter while five voted for murder. Tuesday's agreement to plead guilty was reached after talks between prosecutors, the victim's family, McInerney, and his attorneys.

The Ventura County District Attorney's Office also acknowledged criticism about its decision to try McInerney as an adult. But the office stood by its decision, saying the "dispositions available in the juvenile system were inadequate to address both the gravity of the crime and the need for public safety."

If tried as a juvenile, McInerney likely would have been released at the age of 21, the office said, and the law mandates that he would have been released by the age of 25.

"The period of incarceration available in the juvenile system is too short to adequately protect the public and would send the wrong message to other young people contemplating violence regarding the expected consequences of their actions," the office said in a statement.

McInerney was 14 when he shot 15-year-old King twice at point-blank range in the back of the head at the E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard. They both were typing papers in a computer lab for their English class along with two dozen students and their teacher.

Friends said King, an eighth grader who lived in a group home called Casa Pacifica, was proud of being openly gay. Other students said McInerney was subject to some harassment because King had a crush on him and made it publicly known.

"We must never forget that Lawrence Fobes King is the victim. He faced challenges in his young life at least as severe as those of the defendant," the district attorney's office said in its statement. "As the victim began to explore his sexual identity, he was ostracized and ridiculed by many of his classmates. There was no evidence that he inappropriately touched, bullied or harmed anyone."

The statement added: "Whatever the defendant thought of the victim's conduct, there was no justification for the use of deadly force. Brandon McInerney was schooled in martial arts, was 7 inches (17.78 centimeters) taller than the victim, and outweighed him by approximately 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms). He easily could have deterred any unwanted behavior directed at him without resorting to the use of violence. It is a tragedy that the defendant chose to take an innocent life that has left indelible scars on everyone associated with it."

McInerney is scheduled to be formally sentenced on December 19.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-11-23