Or at least, not guilty. That's the plea Brandon McInernery (pictured above), now 15, entered yesterday in superior court, where he stands accused of (among other things) last February's shooting murder of then-classmate Lawrence King. He's being tried as an adult, though his defense counsel is trying to prohibit it.

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As a court decides whether Brandon McInerney's murder case should go to trial, we learn this disturbing fact about the killer of eighth grader Lawrence King: He boasted proudly of having guns at his house, just in case, on the off chance he wanted to kill someone, he could.

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"The 15-year-old boy charged with the Oxnard classroom gunshot death of a gay student has been given court permission to attend his father's funeral. Ventura County Superior Court Judge James Cloninger ruled Monday that Brandon McInerney can temporarily leave juvenile hall for the funeral. The date for the private family service hasn't been disclosed." [AP]

King's father Bill was found dead from blunt force trauma the day he was supposed to attend his son's court date. Bill and King's mother, Kendra, were recently sued by King's parents for wrongful death.

This time last year, 15-year-old California eighth grader Lawrence "Larry" King was killed in his junior high English class. Two bullets to the head. Classmate Brandon McInerney, now 15, allegedly pulled the trigger after King asked him to be his Valentine. And while McInerney is on trial (as an adult) for first-degree murder and committing a hate crime, he's not the only one facing possible punishment. That's because King's parents have filed a wrongful death suit against the school district, a shelter, and a gay rights organization — for a total of two dozen defendants — for failing to protect their kid from McInerney's alleged threat to kill King the day before it actually happened. And because, get this, they didn't urge King to tone down his effeminate ways.

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"Without saying a word, a teenage boy shot a 15-year-old gay classmate in the back, then delivered a "second, coup de grace" shot to the back of the boy's head, prosecutors allege in new court documents. The Ventura County district attorney's office filed the documents in response to an appeal filed by defense attorneys for Brandon McInerney alleging that prosecutors had abused their discretion by charging him as an adult.

McInerney is charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime in the February 2008 death of Larry King at E.O. Green School in Oxnard. King dressed in a feminine manner and told friends he was gay." [AP]

"Lawyers representing 14-year-old murder suspect Brandon McInerney were turned down by a judge Monday after they requested documents showing how Ventura County prosecutors decide when juvenile offenders will be tried in adult court. The attorneys filed the discovery motion seeking information about the standards and guidelines used by the Ventura County District Attorney's Office in determining whether to prosecute a minor in the adult or juvenile court systems." [Ventura County Star]

All this week, Queerty looks back on the LGBT stories that marked 2008 for good and for ill.

On February 13th, Queerty first told you about the killing of Lawrence King:

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A California judge ordered a psychiatric examination to determine whether or not Brandon McInerney can stand trial for allegedly shooting his gay classmate, Lawrence King, to death. [Mercury News]

Brandon McInerney's trial took a frightening turn yesterday as the district attorney's office revealed the 14-year old, who's accused of shooting gay classmate Lawrence King, had a stash of white supremacists materials.

The package included doodles of swastikas and drawings depicting the "racist skinhead philosophy of the variety espoused by Tom Metzger," the founder of the White Aryan Resistance.

Balking at the introduction of such materials, McInrerney's defense attorney William Quest dismissed the move as a "stunt" aimed at turning opinion against their client. The teen couldn't possibly be filled with such hate, he said, because he has brown friends: "There is no evidence Brandon was ever in a gang, no evidence he had any gang tattoos. His best friends at school were black and Hispanic… This is a stretch by the prosecution." Is it?

Brandon McInerney's defense team's busy laying the groundwork for their client's potential murder trial.

McInerney, you'll recall, stands accused of shooting 15-year old Lawrence King to death last February. His lawyers yesterday won access to King's personal records, which they hope will shed light on the "context" of the killing, which many say was motivated by King's crush on McInerney.

The records in question are expected to disclose information on King's behavior during the time he was living at Casa Pacifica, a center for troubled and abused children located near Camarillo, and attending Green School.

[Attorney William Quest] told the judge that he wanted unedited records, including the names of students, so he can talk "to other people," including students, about the case.
…
"As I said before, Brandon is not a sociopath. This is not some crazy kid," the attorney said, adding that this shooting was unlike others that have occurred in schools across the nation.

Quest said there was "a lot of stuff going on" before the shooting.

"There were warnings of trouble," he said. "What I am trying to establish, given the mandatory harsh sentencing that goes with trying a 14-year-old as an adult, is explaining what was going on. How this tragedy happened, not trying to minimize it or take anything away from the tragedy. But at least, provide it in the context which we think would provide a partial defense on behalf of Brandon."

Let's hope this doesn't turn into a "blame the victim" side show…

Slain gay teen Lawrence King's parents are making it hard to be sympathetic.

The family filed a lawsuit last week against the 15-year old's school district for "failing to enforce a dress code, which allegedly spurred Brandon McInerney to shoot King in the head last February:

The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages.
…
The claim, filed last week in Ventura County Superior Court, says administrators and teachers failed to enforce the school's dress code when King wore feminine clothing and makeup to school.

At the time of his death, King lived in a nearby youth shelter. He had been removed from his parents' home six months before, but no details have been released on what exactly went down. It seems to us the parents may not be angels in all of this.

Besides, is there a dress code saying boys can't wear makeup?

Fourteen year old Brandon McInerney pleaded "not guilty" yesterday to the shooting death of classmate Lawrence King. McInerney allegedly killed King because the 15-year old had a crush on him. Defense lawyers also argued yesterday that the charges should be dropped to manslaughter, rather than murder. McInerney faces up to 51 years in prison if convicted, because he's being tried as an adult. [AP]

Things just got worse for Brandon McInerney, the fourteen year old who allegedly shot Lawrence King earlier this year. McInerney reportedly shot his schoolmate after King gave him a valentine.

Now, despite action from all sides of the debate – including gay activists – a judge decided to try McInerney as an adult:

Relying on past court decisions, a judge ruled Thursday that trying a 14-year-old boy accused of murder in an adult court does not violate the constitution, swatting down legal arguments raised by the boy's attorney that it was cruel and unusual punishment to do so.

"I cannot say that this is unconstitutional," said Ventura County Superior Court Judge Douglas Daily.

Though things look bad for McInerney, the teen's lawyer also cited other cases in which juveniles convicted in adult court successfully lobbied for lighter sentences.

Regardless of the ultimate outcome, this shit's mad messed up. We have a dead boy and another who's life might as well be over. This is a perfect example of a homophobic culture's horrific repercussions…

The arraignment of Brandon McInerney, the fourteen-year old who allegedly shot and killed gay teen Lawrence King, has been delayed. [Towleroad]

The ongoing drama surrounding Lawrence King's February murder took another twist yesterday.

California Judge postponed the arraignment of 14-year old Brandon McInerney, who's accused of shooting fifteen year old King, who had a crush on the boy. The arraignment was meant to take place yesterday, but will now occur on June 12.

In the meantime, journalist Karen Ocamb had a chat with District Attorney Maeve Fox, who discussed the limited possibility of a plea bargain, why McInerney represents a very adult threat and, yes, took on the defense team's claim that the school is to blame for King's murder…

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Who's to blame for Lawrence King's death? That question has been rattling around for a while and will probably never get a clear answer.

Some say that the 15-year old homo deserved to be shot in the head – because, you know, we gays need to control ourselves. Others blame the shooter, 14-year old Brandon McInerney. A few blame society at large, while others prefer to pin the blame on that old fall back, God.

McInerney's lawyer, as we've previously reported, has a more precise target: E.O. Green School.

…McInerney's inability to see another way to solve his problem is partly the fault of the school system, his attorney said.

"Brandon is not some crazed lunatic," Quest said. "This was a confluence of tragic events that could have been stopped. If there is partial blame in other places, let's not throw away Brandon for the rest of his life."
…
"We think there will be evidence that the school, with the actions of Larry, didn't quite know how to deal with it," Quest said.

"Not a crazed lunatic." Well, crazed enough to shoot someone in the head, but perhaps not a lunatic. This experience may change all that, though, which explains why many people – including gay activists – are hoping McInerney gets tried as a juvenile, not an adult.

School officials cry foul over Quest's explanations. Says superintendent Jerry Dannenberg: "School officials definitely were aware of what was going on, and they were dealing with it appropriately." Dannenberg also mentioned King's right to wear makeup, earrings and other ladylike garb. The school, in fact, would have been wrong to try to curb his behavior.

The debate over who's to blame for Lawrence King's death continues to rage two months after his murder.

For those of you living under a rock, 15-year old King died in February after a 14-year old classmate, Brandon McInerney, shot him in the head. King had reportedly asked McInerney to be his Valentine, which many say spurred the violent outburst. Thus, many claim that King only invited the explosive retaliation. Journalist Neil Broverman once mulled that theory, while a Mississippi State University student took it one step further: "King… may have gone too far by imposing his sexuality on others." A pretty distasteful conclusion – and one that will no doubt be getting heavy play during McInerney's murder trial…

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A number of gay groups are banding together to fight for Brandon McInerney, the 14-year old who shot teenaged homo Lawrence King to death. While prosecutors want to try McInerney as an adult, activists are pushing for a juvenile consideration. "We are saddened and outraged by the murder of junior high school student Lawrence King… At the same time, we call on prosecutors not to compound this tragedy with another wrong. We call on them to treat the suspect as a juvenile, not as an adult." [365 Gay]

Lawrence King's February murder continues to garner press. And, as we saw in The Advocate last month, some wonder whether King's queer candor and flirtation invited gun man Brandon McInerney's ire.

Consider Mississippi State University student Lazarus Austin's recent op-ed:

By imposing his homosexuality on McInerney, he may have set McInerney off. McInerney may not have had an innate hatred of gay people. In fact, he may have tolerated homosexuality, while simultaneously thinking it was immoral, sinful or simply "uncool," like many people do. King, however, may have gone too far by imposing his sexuality on others. Although King by no means deserved his fate, he may have unfortunately invited it.

So gross.

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Can being openly gay and out invited attack? Sure, yes, definitely. Should gay kids such as Lawrence King thus be encouraged to keep a lid on their lavender ways? That's what some people say journo Neil Broverman advocates in a new Advocate article: "Mixed Messages," which is currently excerpted on the magazine's website.

The piece definitely packs a punch and has some readers doubled over in pain, particularly this paragraph:

If they didn’t see the execution coming, most of King’s peers at school knew he was being bullied for being proudly gay and flouting male conventions by accessorizing his school uniform with eye shadow and high-heeled boots. In the months leading up to that morning, King had undergone a metamorphosis.

Guided by a welcoming support system at the group home where he lived, the teenager was encouraged to dress as he pleased and live as the person he wanted to be.

What King and others didn’t recognize was that this encouragement—and his response to it—placed him on a collision course with a culture that found him repulsive.

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Could Lawrence King's murder have been prevented?

That's what some Los Angeles Times journos wonders in another lengthy article on the late 15-year old, who died after being shot by a fellow student, Brandon McInerney. Both boys came from traumatic backgrounds, write Paul Pringle and Catherine Saillant, but it remains unclear how much the school did to help them – especially King:

Larry's friends offer differing accounts of whether he had complained to teachers about the taunting. Some say he had decided not to report it, fearing that he would be branded a "rat" and suffer the consequences.
…
Not so, said Jerry Dannenberg, superintendent of the Hueneme School District. The E.O. Green staff did come to Larry's aid, including shortly before he was killed, after they had learned of an altercation between him and Brandon.

Obviously their efforts weren't enough.

On a related note, King's parents have set up a cute – and very depressing – memorial website, from which we got this picture of King dressed as the Great Pumpkin. Meanwhile, 14-year old shooter McInerney remains in prison and faces very adult hate crime charges.

The Lawrence King murder raises more questions this morning. Time's John Cloud wonders whether gay groups like the Task Force should be politicizing the 15-year old's shooting death. Do we highlight his homosexuality as the alleged motive behind last weeks bloodshed. Cloud says "no," and points to evidence that suggests gay kids aren't as endangered as some would believe. He concludes, We may never know the real motivations for King's murder. …But [Brandon McInerney's] victim's heartbreaking life and death should be occasions for mourning, not legislation." [Time]

We knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear that 15-year old Lawrence King has been taken off the ventilator after being shot by a classmate last week. Sources speculate the alleged shooter may have shot King for being too effeminate. A hate crime charge has officially been filed against 14-year old Brandon McInerney.

An estimated 1,000 people marched in Oxnard, California this weekend to pay their respects to King and raise public awareness of homophobic violence.

Watch the AP death video after the jump.

[Rainbow Alliance video via Joe.My.God]

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Students continue to mourn in Oxnard, California this morning.

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