Gay student killed by fellow classmate

An Oxnard student carefully planned and carried out the execution of a 15-year-old gay classmate because of his ongoing feud with the victim and his white supremacist belief that homosexuality is an abomination.

Brandon McInerney, now 17, is charged with murder in the 2008 shooting death of Lawrence King in a high-profile case that has rallied the gay community and triggered calls for greater protections of young homosexuals on school campuses.

King was bullied by McInerney and other boys at the school, but shortly before his death, King had begun wearing high heels, makeup and earrings to school and had become more confident in himself.

The day before King was shot, the two boys had been bickering in a eighth-grade science class. When King got up to get a drink of water, Brandon said "I am going to shoot him."

The next day McInerney pulled a .22-caliber handgun out of his backpack and shot King in the head.

Prosecutors have added a hate crime allegation, arguing that McInerney's actions were spurred in part by a hatred of gays, in line with his alleged neo-Nazi sympathies. If convicted, he faces 53 years to life in prison.

McInerney is being tried as an adult court under the provisions of Proposition 21, which allows prosecutors to bring murder charges against juveniles as young as 14 for certain serious crimes.

If you or someone you know is facing murder charges, they need to contact a criminal defense lawyer. Ventura County Criminal Defense Attorney Robert Helfend has over 20 years of experience and the resources to fight for your rights.