Murdered 8th Grader Taken Off Life Support

(CBS/AP)  Organs were harvested from the body of an eighth-grade boy who was declared brain dead after being shot at school, a coroner's official said Friday.

Lawrence King, 15, was taken off life support on Thursday and his body was taken for autopsy after the organ harvesting.

Ventura County Senior Deputy Medical Examiner Armando Chavez said multiple organs were donated but he could not disclose which ones they were.

The autopsy showed King died of wounds to his head.

"Obviously the manner was homicide," Chavez said.

Prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements.

Brandon David McInerney, who allegedly brought a handgun to E.O. Green Junior High School on Tuesday and shot King in the head, was charged in Superior Court as an adult.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox said 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.

McInerney, who was held with bail set at $770,000, made his initial court appearance Thursday, but the hearing was continued until March 21. Defense attorney Brian A. Vogel didn't return telephone messages seeking comment.

The felony complaint did not contain the reasons prosecutors filed the hate-crime enhancement, and Fox said she could not reveal them. Oxnard police spokesman David Keith said Friday the investigation was continuing and there was no information about a motive.

Several classmates have said King would wear feminine attire, making him a social outcast with other boys at the school. King sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels, eighth-grader Nicholas Cortez said.

King was in the county foster care system and lived at Casa Pacifica, a center for abused and neglected children, said Steve Elson, the facility's chief executive.

The Ventura County Rainbow Alliance announced plans for a vigil and march Friday night.

The crime rate typically is higher in Oxnard than in Ventura County's other nine cities.

"When you say you're from Oxnard, people always immediately think 'gangs,' " an Oxnard father told the Los Angeles Times. "But it's not all gangs and violence here. It's a friendly place and a good place for families."

[grammawhamma]

Just so SCHOOLLORD will have someone to dump on. I''''ll take the hit for all of the Registered gun owners. Yes, I have several firearms that are not in a safe or with "trigger locks". These include Machine guns, Silenced Rifles and Submachine Guns. NONE of the firearms were locked up when I had children in the house BECAUSE I tought them well. They all realized what damage could be done with a firearm and left them alone.
Posted by gunnerv1 at 12:31 PM : Feb 18, 2008

I give you credit for admitting that your guns are not locked up. It is only common sense that the gun owners that say they have guns for protection do not lock them up (after all they can''t protect you if they are in a big safe.) I would just like to know why you (gunnervl) need the kind of guns you stated you have....seems like quite the aresenal. Why??

[libsrweak]

Posted by schoollord at 04:09 PM : Feb 18, 2008
+ report abuse


***********

from your own statement..it seems the one at fault is the ''gun owner'' which you mentioned is a ''criminal''

do you think your fellow brethren would allow you to prosecute a ''criminal'' at the full extent of the law?? I WOULD NOT BE SUPRISED IF THEY GIVE HIM A BOOK DEAL INSTEAD.

[libsrweak]

And the father is just another irresponsible registered gun owner!~ The kid of a gun owner...a criminal!~ Go figure!~



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Posted by schoollord at 04:09 PM : Feb 18, 2008
+ report abuse


**********

so what do you suggest we do??

[libsrweak]

Posted by schoollord at 01:09 PM : Feb 18, 2008
+ report abuse


***********

you are making it sound like all the ''incidents'' in this country is because of a gun that was taken off from a registered gun owner..

I am not sure if you are willing to accept the fact that what you are hearing on cbs is not but a minute fraction of all violent incidents in this country.

so questionm, what do you suggest?? ban all handguns and move to your house?

like i asked before..name one location in this great wide world where it is safer OR there are no incident of gun play where GUNS ARE BANNED. (the last time you came up with some bullsh*t like "my house")

[slim1h2o]

Posted by schoollord at 11:10 AM : Feb 18, 2008

Hey Noodles,,, I said that he had it without permission. Locked, or improperly locked,,doesn''t matter. He still swiped the gun. And he was not a regestered gun owner. So your assertions ring hollow. He''s still a thief. Aka,,,a criminal!

[gunnerv1]

Just so SCHOOLLORD will have someone to dump on. I''ll take the hit for all of the Registered gun owners. Yes, I have several firearms that are not in a safe or with "trigger locks". These include Machine guns, Silenced Rifles and Submachine Guns. NONE of the firearms were locked up when I had children in the house BECAUSE I tought them well. They all realized what damage could be done with a firearm and left them alone.

[grammawhamma]

Terri Scaiavo was basically a parasite depending on the feeding tube (her umbilical cord) for life. Same as the pro choice people say a fetus is....thus they condone abortion.

The difference I see between the two is that Terri had made her wishes known to her husband prior to her state of vegitation that she did not want to be kept alive this way. And secondly she had no chance of ever resuming a normal life. Unlike an unborn child whose wishes were never considered...and who could have lived a normal life if given the chance.

[grammawhamma]

Posted by Candide777 at 05:04 PM : Feb 17, 2008

Very good post!

[catuskoti]

It is disappointing that CBS News assumes that Lawrence King was assassinated for his sexual orientation and not his gender identity. Was he killed for being gay (sexual orientation) or for "flaunting" it (gender identity)? CBS News ignores this subtlety, though it is very important both legislatively and politically.

Like in Pakistan and Afghanistan, people can kill you in the US if you transgress Old Testament gender dictates without anyone in the media or government noticing, let alone rising up to stop it.

[catuskoti]

It is disappointing that CBS News assumes that Lawrence King was assassinated for his sexual orientation and not his gender identity. Was he killed for being gay (sexual orientation) or for "flaunting" it (gender identity)? CBS News ignores this subtlety, though it is very important both legislatively and politically.

Like in Pakistan and Afghanistan, people can kill you in the US if you transgress Old Testament gender dictates without anyone in the media or government noticing, let alone rising up to stop it.