Gay Student Threatened Days Before He Was Slain, Prosecutors Say

Trial began this afternoon in the case of a California teenager accused of execution-style murdering a gay classmate at a middle school in 2008.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Brandon McInerney, then 14, walked into his eighth-grade classroom, took a .22-caliber handgun out of his backpack and shot 15-year-old Larry King, who was sitting directly in front of him. McInerney then threw the gun on the floor and walked out of the room.

Prosecutors now say that McInerney carefully planned the murder of his classmate. Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox said in her opening statement today that McInerney and other boys at school bullied King. When King started to wear high heels and earrings to school, he and McInerney clashed even more. McInerney allegedly mentioned he would shoot King -- the day before the actual shooting occurred, LA Times reports.

According to the AP, court documents reveal that King said "I love you" to McInerney while at school the day before the shooting.

This emotionally triggered McInerney, who was "emotionally pushed over the edge [by King's] inappropriate sexual comments," NBC Los Angeles reports. McInerney's attorneys plan to argue a case of voluntary manslaughter.

McInerney is charged with first-degree murder, and prosecutors have added a hate crime allegation, arguing that McInerney was motivated partly by a hatred of gays. Although McInerney was just 14 at the time of the incident, he is being tried as an adult.

He faces a maximum of 53 years to life in prison if convicted, KTLA reports.

Comments

[Glenn LaBauve]

03:07 PM on 07/26/2011

If he felt threatened by gay sex before, be needs to get a little more enlightened as that will be the only type of sex he will be exposed to for the next 53 years.

[piperflyer]

10:33 AM on 07/26/2011

"When King started to wear high heels and earrings to school, he and McInerney clashed even more."

What's wrong with a teenage boy wearing high heels and earrings to school? If it feels good, do it. Be you're own person. Gays are here to stay. Gays are born that way. The end is near.

[JAnnieKar]

08:13 PM on 07/10/2011

Other than the obvious tragedy of what happened to the victim or that the perpetrator was so screwed up that this was his next logical step, I'm really disturbed that "I love you" is being referred to as an "inappropriate sexual comment."

[liarsclub75]

08:07 PM on 07/10/2011

I followed this story when it first came out and it seems both the victim and perp were living in households where there were a lot of problems.

[oldfatman]

04:58 PM on 07/08/2011

I can't even process this information.Why would anyone care if someone is gay or bi or anything else,its none of my business.If someone is gay we can still be friends,their just people.I'm confused,I just don't understand shooting someone because their different.

[MrNCN]

01:11 PM on 07/11/2011

More proof (as if it was needed) that the crazy "Hate the sin, not the sinner" nonsense being touted by the xtian TBagger Right is way too subtle for our children to understand.

[chaucer1]

09:36 AM on 07/08/2011

Now change the home page word to "slain," please. Talk about No Child Left Behind!

[karencares]

10:05 AM on 07/07/2011

I know this is a bit petty considering the seriousness of this article, but is "slayed" even a word? Especially on the "education" site. I think is should be "slain"

[rextrek]

08:41 AM on 07/07/2011

I can understand where Larry was coming from, and you can only understand - IF you were the Target of Bullie(s)...tho I never went thru anything like he did.......I know all to well what it is to be bullied...middle school was hell...6 to 9th grades SUCKED...Lawrence king was probably called F--,Q---r,F----t on a daily basis....the onslaught never ceased.......and it seems he was naturally more -effeminant-so instead of retreating...he said Fuck it..and wore it Out and Proudly.....and threw thier"F-g,F-----t,Q---r", right back in thier bigoted,hateful faces. ..and this lead to his death..thru NO fault of his own.

[Erin84]

01:33 AM on 07/07/2011

I feel like I'm back in middle school reading this forum. "He said 'I love you'! Ew. Why did he say that?!" You know, if you bother to read the details of the case, Brandon had been bullying Larry. Larry, sarcastically flirted to taunt Brandon back. Rather than fighting or letting Brandon's words get to him, he came up with a clever comeback. Now some sick, immature folks on this blog are pretending this warranted Brandon shooting Larry in the head. I don't feel sorry for Brandon. At 14, one knows what firing a gun at someone's head does. 14 is old enough to understand the consequences. This murder was calculated by a deranged psychopath and he deserves to rot in prison for the rest of his life for taking another person's life.

[David N Taiwan]

08:10 AM on 07/07/2011

I've been coming to the same conclusion you posted. When you are bullied, you fight back with whatever you can, fists, a purse, or a smart mouth.

[James Lopez]

11:13 PM on 07/06/2011

"I love you" is not sexual. I love my dad and my bros. I hear Jesus loves even little baby boys and old men. Maybe the victim was being smug toward a bully, but sexual harassment that is not.

[blackreign]

12:03 PM on 07/07/2011

Words have meaning based on context.

[Mr Anonymous]

10:44 PM on 07/07/2011

That means he should die for saying it?

[Jason N]

01:02 PM on 07/26/2011

Than you should consider the context. He said "I love you" as a smart-alec remark to head of the kids bullying.

[rajb1037]

07:16 PM on 07/06/2011

Even if "I love you" were considered an "inappropriate sexual comment," that defense doesn't fly.

He threatened to kill him. He went home, planned it out. He slept on it. He made the decision again that next morning. He snuck a gun into school and sat in the seat behind the victim. He took out his gun and shot him. He stopped, made eye contact with other students in the room, then shot him again, point-blank in the back of the head. He then calmly dropped the gun and walked out of the room.

The defense attorney has the right idea - claim that the defendant is guilty, but of a lesser crime due to extenuating circumstances, setting up a possible plea deal for a slightly lighter sentence - but the "crime of passion" argument doesn't work in this case.

[GustavoRejivik]

04:04 PM on 07/06/2011

Is this what Gay's want?? A 14 year old boy being thrown away to make up for past injustices against Gays?? A Crime is a crime .. all these Hate Crimes laws go against our Constitutional Ideals of equality .. now some Crimes are bigger "Crimes" .. who knows what other comments or "looks" this young boy had to deal with.

A 14 year old boy, a known gay, saying "I love you" to a straight boy is a form of sexual harassment.... not something a straight boy at 14 is designed to handle, totally abhorrent, and unnatural to most all young boys, like if the hairy 40 year old gym teacher tried to grab your weenie and play with it ...

Along with tolerance towards the Gays being taught in our schools, teaching the kids that "yes" .. Gays are out there and among all of us .. they ought to teach Gay youth how to interact, or NOT interact with straight students to help avoid these types of tragedies.

[angelcakesinc]

09:06 PM on 07/06/2011

How about teaching straight boys not to express feelings of attraction to straight girls who might not be interested in them either? If saying 'I love you' to someone who isn't receptive is grounds for being murdered expect to see a significant drop in the male population of the country.

[Erin Scott]

10:44 PM on 07/06/2011

Oh my god, this really is disgusting. The murderer had taunted Lawrence King over and over and over again about his sexuality, then King began flirting as comeback to anger. Kids have these fights all the time. If some fat kid makes fun of a kid with acne, he's going to comeback with something about the fat kid's weight. People keep ignoring these details as if "poor Brandon" was being harassed by the victim. At 14, you know the implications of firing bullets into someone's head. There is evidence it was premeditated, and yes, the justice system differentiates crimes based on motive. Anti-gay animus is a unique motive and deserved to be argued as such. Really, your comment is disgusting, so I don't expect to get through to you. I really don't care if this murderer spends the rest of his life in jail. When I was 14, I had a conscience. I couldn't live with myself if I took another person's life. This kid willingly did, and he did so without remorse. May he rot in prison.

[FEMEM]

02:04 PM on 07/06/2011

Since when is saying "I Love You, " a sexual comment?

[fivemillion]

02:13 PM on 07/06/2011

if you are a man, go say this to a woman in the workplace and see what happens......

[smm502]

03:59 PM on 07/06/2011

I don't think the woman would walk up and bust a cap you in the head.

[Ciara Veronica]

08:38 PM on 07/10/2011

If one adult says "I love you" to another adult in the workplace... that's a pretty serious comment. I know you were implying that a sexual harassment suit would follow, but I don't think that's what would actually happen. When an adult says "I love you" they're making a serious claim, regarding deep feelings of emotional attraction...

It's completely different from say a coworker that's always trying to look down a female coworker's shirt, or from a boss that makes lewd comments.

I should think that if a man says "I love you" to a woman in the workplace, the woman would probably be taken aback at first, and then want to sit down with the man to talk it out... then she'll probably turn the conversation in her mind a couple times before deciding the proper course of action.

Saying "I Love You" is not a sexual comment, it's an emotional one.

[Robear C]

02:03 PM on 07/06/2011

According to the AP, court documents reveal that King said "I love you" to McInerney while at school the day before the shooting.

This emotionally triggered McInerney, who was "emotionally pushed over the edge [by King's] inappropriate sexual comments," NBC Los Angeles reports.

How does "I love you" get translated into being a "inappropriate sexual comment"? Really?

Great journalism here.

[fivemillion]

02:13 PM on 07/06/2011

In a sane world boys do not tell other boys 'i love you'

[mfoto1986]

05:29 PM on 07/06/2011

I say that to my friends--- Have you seen the movie " I LOVE YOU, MAN"???

Maybe you should--- it might help you open up a little and show some emotions. All men have that soft spot somewhere inside :)

[BooTay]

08:25 AM on 07/09/2011

In a sane world, supposed adults do not serve as apologists for craven lowlifes who bully and torment gay classmates ... and then, with premeditation, murder them for fighting back the best way they know how - with sarcasm.

[peapers]

01:30 PM on 07/06/2011

This is a horrible event.

However, I believe that if the gay student were the one pulling the trigger, he wouldn't have been charged as an adult facing the murder one.

Crimes should be treated as crimes, not crimes with special circumstances. Justice is suppose to be blind, not taking a peek to see if the victim is considered a special minority.

Politics "du jour" should have no place in law.

[sawyer0413]

01:46 PM on 07/06/2011

I think either way, the charges would have been against them as an adult. The problem is that this, in my opinion, needs to stop. We think of children as adults. Biologically and developmentally, they are becoming adults. They can be quite close to adults. But, they are not adults.

It is a horrible thing when a child is pushed to this. They are broken. Lives are destroyed, but not just single lives. Certainly the victim's potential is lost, but so is the perpetrator's. We need to use the opportunity to allow the perpetrator to redeem the life they took. Make a contribution for the life they took. When the courts allow it, it actually happens far more often than you'd imagine.

[Quiet Desperation]

06:33 PM on 07/07/2011

The perpetrator had no potential. If shooting someone in the back of the head is EVER even a serious consideration for someone, that person is in no shape to be part of our society, and does not belong here.

I would be really interested to know what this kid's childhood was like: his parents, his household, etc. This kind of ideal is usually taught, not natural. Something tells me that if this kid's dad was around at all, he had something to do with instilling the hatred.

[mfoto1986]

05:31 PM on 07/06/2011

"However, I believe that if the gay student were the one pulling the trigger, he wouldn't have been charged as an adult facing the murder one."

How the heck do you know that?? Well if we are going to make assumptions here, umm I think it would be the opposite. He would def be tried as an adult. After all, where would be the justice when a personal purposefully walk to another kid and kill him, then walks free?? You are reaching desperately on this one dude. Just admit that it was the wrong thing to do and move along. No need to make excuses!!