14 Year-Old Murderer Pleads “Not Guilty”

The 14-year-old who shot and killed classmate, Larry King, point blank, in front of a whole class of peers plead not guilty Thursday as his trial got underway in California.

Brandon McInerney is being tried as an adult in a Ventura County Court Judge and could face life in prison even though LGBT activists had urged that the boy be dealt with by a juvenile court.

Thursday, his defence lawyer said the decision to try him for murder and not manslaughter was effectively a “death sentence.”

As you may know, Lawrence King, the 15 year-old, who self-identified as gay and wore feminine clothing, was shot in the head on February 12th during a lesson, by McInerney, his classmate at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California.

The Executive Director of GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) Kevin Jennings commented: As a nation, we’ve had our heads in the sand for far too long. We need to do everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again.”

Mixed views have poured in as to the fate of the killer, but most agree, an example of “Zero Tolerance” for hate crimes must be set in order to help prevent future killings.  

You may also remember Angie Zapata, who was beat to death by a man who “snapped” after discovering that Zapata was actually a male.