Kendal+Kulp+2A


 * Who? - ** 14-year-old **Brandon McInerney**
 * What? - ** Brandon shot and killed a fellow student Larry king because he was openly gay.
 * When? - ** February 12, 2008.
 * Where? -** E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California, United States.

February 12, 2008 E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California, United States, the teenager Brandon Mclnerney walked into his 8th grade class room with his father's gun and shot a classmate Lawrence King in the head. Brandon shot King because he wore makeup and high heels to school and Brandon did not like it. Before the murder Brandon Mclnerney had expressed tension toward Lawrence, this tension and a home life that was conducive to violence were the makings for murder. Defendant Brandon McInerneys side of the story: ** The defendant pleaded not guilty to first degree murder. McInerney's defense attorney said in an interview, he believes it might have been avoided if someone had stepped in to help beforehand. On his defense Brandon's attorney also wanted to have him tried as a juvenile, by showing studies on how the brain develops, including research showing that the parts of the brain that control reasoning and judgment continue to develop into a person's 20s. Also on Brandon's defense his attorney said he grew up in a troubled, violent home.


 * Prosecution: ** Ventura County District Attorney Gregory Totten chose to charge Brandon as an adult. He was charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of his classmate. The prosecutors said the killing was a premeditated hate crime. The district attorney chose to charge Brandon with one count of murder and two enhancements, use of a gun and hate crime.


 * Outcome of the case: ** Being 14 at the time of the crime McInerney was charged as an adult with first-degree murder. 1 carries is a mandatory minimum of 25 years to life with no possibility of parole. The gun enhancement is a mandatory minimum of 25 years with no possibility of parole. All of these charges add up to a minimum of 51 years in prison.

I think that this ruling is not fair to the family who lost Lawrence King. The minimum should have been life in prison and potentially a death sentence. I guess that in a way sentencing a 14 year old to serve time in prison is basically a death sentence because he most likely be raped and have even less dignity than he already did.

Sources APA:

Mehas, Michael. (2008). 14-year-old brandon mcinerney: ventura county's sacrificial lamb. Retrieved from []

Burroway, Initials. (2008, july 28). The Scapegoating of brandon mcinerney. Retrieved from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com//

Carlson, C. (2008, April 20). //Defense in boy's killing seeks juvenile justice//. Retrieved from []