Murdered 8th Grader Taken Off Life Support
Shooter, 14, Could Tried As An Adult For Anti-Gay Hate Crimes, Premeditated Murder
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Photo
An unidentified student stops to look at a makeshift memorial honoring fifteen-year-old Lawrence King which lies beneath the flagpole at E.O. Green School Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008 in Oxnard, Calif. King was declared brain dead Wednesday after being shot in the head in class by a fellow student on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Phil McCarten)
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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."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 76 CommentsThere has never been any child in any of my kids middle school classes who wasnt repulsed, revolted and disgusted at the thought of gay s3x. I also taught school for eight years and noticed the same phenomenon. My conclusion is that it is a normal response to what kids perceive as abnormal behavior. You can teach tolerance all you want but humans tend to revert to their primitive ways when threatened.
Posted by staycalm"
And how is anyone ''threatened'' by g@ys in school?
The reaction you see in class is not an inborn one, it is socially taught by the parents, and this is LEARNED the same way a kid learns the alphabet or hot to tie their shoes.
You will also find the ones who are the most vocal against something like g@ys are more often than not closet g@ys themselves and the reaction is the guilt caused by society and peers makig them overreact to compensate and throw off any suspicion about themselves.
"King sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels,"
What kind of parents would let their 15 year old boy go to a school environment wearing MAKEUP and high heels knowing the hostility that would result??
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His name sounds Black? The killer''s name sounds white?
I''m sure Larry King from "Larry King live" would love to argue with you on that one. I know people both black and white with the name "McInerney". How ignorant!
This explains why the kid was allowed to attend school in female attire and was wacked by a normal child. The preverted state social workers and their abnormal value system is the reason this kid was killed. But they will not be penalized because the homose_xuals rule!
Holy *** schoollord, don''t you have a life? Shouldn''t you be out protesting or something?
Posted by nutsie11 at 04:00 PM : Feb 16, 2008
Nutsie11,,when are you going to learn,,, You can''t argue with dimminutive people on here! Some people may nt be able to tell the difference. But keep up the good fight!
No telling what these goose stepping people will want to take away next!
I think it''s sad too,, that someone can''t be themselves,, and live without fear that someone might shoot them for being themselves..
What happened to the thinking,,,,,,,Live,,and let live! ..... I''m glad I don''t have to grow up in these times..
And what''s with this "fire-arm enhancement"? Is this like Murder 3.0 as opposed to the 2.0 version?
And thank goodness he was penalized for not using something more sporting like a crossbow or a sword. If he had used that, he would have earned some court-cred and only received a 25 year sentence.
Remember these things folks, when you decide to kill. Bonus points for killing a white heterosexual who you love and using something more chancy than a gun.
This hate crime reflects a prehistoric CAVEMAN, NEADERTHAL upbringing. I say hang this kid''s father. The perpetrator, too, is lost, for life, facing an adult punishment which he RICHY deserves.
Sad to see how early INSANITY can take root.
Any kid that would shoot another kid over this kind of thing is not likely a candidate for rehabilitation. Ouy vey!
Do we need a DEATH PENALTY for 14 year olds? How long do you suppose would this kid perpetrator would survive if this happened in Iran? Ans: Not long!
Yea, sure sounds like it.
Posted by newster1
From reading your various posts on stories here it has become aparrent that you have trouble reading the articles about which you post. Had you actually spent the minute amount of time to actually read the article before running your mouth you would have found this interesting bit,
"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."
Which answers your question.
Posted by newster1
Are you for real?
Posted by nutsie11
Agreed. Level the playing field and the chicken stuff predetors will vanish.
That said, the wackos will still persist untill such time as parents return to parenting and desist from patterning their children. IMHO
"Daddy there is a f@ggot at school what should I do?"
"Godd@mn f@ggots. You should beat his @ss sonny"
Sonny thinks to self "humm, I think I''ll go one better, wont daddy be proud?"
The main solution, I would think, would be to enforce the laws currently written. When the laws are not enforced it makes little difference if another law is enacted. Without enforcement the laws are merely words on a piece of paper. Without enforcement they are just meaningless, useless words. When the laws are enforced as intended the end result will be a significant increase in our safety without diminishing our rights and freedoms. That would be the ultimate goal, rather than an outright ban as some are pushing for.
The school and those responsible for the care of this poor child should also be called to answer many questions. Why did they allow him to go to school dressed in such odd outfits, and what advice were they giving him?
Had you taken the time to actually read my post idiot, you would have seen that I was responding to another moron who failed to read the article enough to discover the fact the child killed was the product of the foster care system.
In the future as I said, take the time to understand that of which you speak. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak and remove all question.
Posted by libsrsissy
The point this person was trying to make was one of legal symantics and calling into question the professionalism of CBS journalism. Not wether the child, for all intents and purposes, was in fact deceased.
Does anyone read? or is the need to attack others so great.
What is this saying about you?
Posted by jerryomara
If our worms are useless, then why are we consistently breeding a$$holes? BTW, comparing a few psychotics to the general population is pointless, insignificant, and a reflection of your ignorance.
Posted by schoollord
The gun owners I know are respectable, intelligent, and contribute to society in ways you aren''t capable of comprehending. The wackos I know are delusional, insecure, intolerant, and lack analytical thinking...a category you fit well in.
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