California gay teen murdered at school

by for PinkNews.co.uk
15 February 2008, 11:30am

A fifteen-year-old boy shot in the head by a fellow pupil at school on Tuesday has been declared brain dead.

Lawrence King, who was reportedly openly gay and sometimes wore ‘feminine’ clothing to school, was shot twice while in class at a junior high school in Oxnard, California.

He remains on a ventilator as his family want to donate his organs.

A fourteen-year-old boy, Brandon McInerney, has been arrested and charged with murder.

Ventura County prosecutors said the killing was a premeditated hate crime and McInerney would be charged as an adult.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

“He would come to school in high-heeled boots, makeup, jewelry and painted nails, the whole thing,” said Michael Sweeney, 13. “That was freaking the guys out.”

“Several students said King and a group of boys, including the defendant, had a verbal confrontation concerning King’s sexual orientation a day before the killing.”

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