Fight Footage Shown At Gay Teen Killing Trial

Fight Footage Shown At Gay Teen Killing Trial

LOS ANGELES -- Prosecutors told jurors that surveillance footage of a teen murder defendant fighting in juvenile hall proves the boy has a violent nature.

But lawyers for 17-year-old Brandon McInerney argued that fights are common in juvenile hall and the video, shown in court Friday, has no bearing on the case against him.

McInerney is being tried as an adult for the 2008 shooting death of 15-year-old Larry King, a gay classmate.

McInerney, then 14, reportedly walked into his eighth-grade classroom, took a handgun out of his backpack and shot King, who was sitting directly in front of him. McInerney then threw the gun on the floor and walked out of the room.

The Ventura County Star reports that Chris Niblett, a corrections officer at juvenile hall, described McInerney as a good kid who was in the honors program for good behavior.

Niblett also disputed claims from a prosecution witness that McInerney is a white supremacist and a member of a street gang.

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 reported.

King was shot in the head at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.

___

Information from: Ventura County Star, http://venturacountystar.com

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot