A 17 year old boy who pled guilty to charges he shot to death a gay classmate in an Oxnard classroom has been sentenced to 21 years in prison, with no possibility of parole.
Brandon McInerney was sentenced today for the February, 2008 killing of classmate Larry King at E.O. Green Junior High School.
McInerney was originally tried as an adult, and charged with first degree murder, with hate crime allegations because of the victim’s sexual orientation. The case received international attention because of assertions the killing was motivated by McInerney being a white supremacist. The defense team admitted that he killed King, but claimed it happened because King had been sexually harassing McInterney
The trial ended in a mistrial, and while prosecutors decided to retry the case, they dropped the hate crime allegations. A plea deal prevented the need for a second trial. He pled guilty to second degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter, but was only sentenced for manslaughter, and use of firearms charges.
The sentence means he’ll be 38 years old when he’s released from prison.
