A reportedly openly gay fifteen-year-old boy shot in the head by a fellow pupil at school on Tuesday has been declared brain dead. Lawrence King, who 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. The Los Angeles Times reports that 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. "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."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 16th February 2008 - 5:01pm