Murder of Larry King

Lawrence Fobes King, also known as Latisha King (January 13, 1993 – February 14, 2008) was a 15-year-old student at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California, who was shot twice by a fellow student, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney, and kept on life support for two days afterwards.

Lawrence Fobes King was born on January 13, 1993 at the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura, California, to a 15-year-old mother who was addicted to crack-cocaine and alcohol.

King was half African-American.

His biological father had abandoned his wife, and his mother, who was unable to care for King, resorted to prostitution to support her children and her drug habit.

Two years later, King and his newborn brother were adopted by Gregory and Dawn King.

King was prescribed medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and, according to Gregory King, had been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, a condition in which a child fails to develop relationships with his or her caregivers.

He was also forced to repeat the first grade.

By the third grade, King began to be bullied by his fellow students due to his effeminacy and openness about being gay, having come out at ten years old.

At the age of twelve, King was placed on probation for theft and vandalism, after taking food from the refrigerator in the home where he was living.

In 1993, Kendra accused her husband William of shooting her in the arm with a .45-caliber pistol.

In another incident, William McInerney choked his wife almost to unconsciousness after she accused him of stealing ADHD medication from her older son.

He pleaded no contest and served ten days in jail and 36 months probation on a charge of domestic violence.

Brandon David McInerney was born on January 24, 1994, in Ventura, California.

His mother, Kendra, had a criminal history and was addicted to methamphetamine.

Newsweek described the shooting as "the most prominent gay-bias crime since the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard", bringing attention to issues of gun violence as well as gender expression and sexual identity of teenagers.

Between August 2000 and February 2001, William McInerney had contacted Child Protective Services at least five times to express concern about his son living with his mother.

In 2001, he filed a restraining order against Kendra, and in 2004, Brandon was placed in the custody of his father, as his mother had entered a drug rehabilitation program.

In November 2007, he was removed from his adoptive home and placed in a group home and treatment center named Casa Pacifica after he alleged that his adoptive father was physically abusing him, a charge Gregory King denied.

King found a marginally more accepting environment at E.O. Green Junior High School in the seventh grade.

He hung out with a group of girls, however was still ridiculed by boys in his gym class.

Boys openly bullied him when he began attending school wearing women's accessories and clothing, high heels and makeup in January 2008.

King's younger brother Rocky also suffered bullying because of his relationship with Larry.

Some teachers believed King's manner of dress to be distracting, and therefore a violation of school dress code.

California anti-discrimination law prevents discrimination based on gender, including gender expression, so he was not prevented from dressing to his preference.

In addition to dressing in feminine clothing, King had begun to ask to be called Latisha in the week and a half prior to the shooting.

The school issued a formal notice via email to every teacher on January 29, 2008.

Written by eighth-grade assistant principal Sue Parsons, it said, in part:"We have a student on campus who has chosen to express his sexuality by wearing make-up. It is his right to do so. Some kids are finding it amusing, others are bothered by it. As long as it does not cause classroom disruptions he is within his rights. We are asking that you talk to your students about being civil and non-judgmental. They don't have to like it but they need to give him his space. We are also asking you to watch for possible problems. If you wish to talk further about it please see me or Joy Epstein."

In the months before the shooting, King began to respond in kind to sustained harassment from his peers.

He would tell boys who harassed him in the locker room that they looked attractive, or ask if he could sit at their table in the cafeteria.

Some boys reported to their teachers that he would tell them, "I know you want me," in the halls between classes.

In court documents, prosecutors described these behaviors as a response to increasing aggression from other boys, particularly Brandon McInerney, with whom King had had a number of "acrimonious" verbal disputes in the weeks prior to the shooting.

Several teachers and King's father accused Joy Epstein, one of the school's assistant principals, of encouraging King's flamboyance as part of a perceived "political agenda".

In July 2008, Newsweek reported that a day or two before the shooting, King walked onto the basketball court in the middle of a game and asked McInerney to be his Valentine in front of the team members who then made fun of McInerney.

Just after lunchtime on February 11, King passed McInerney in a corridor and allegedly called out, "Love you, baby."

Later that day King was seen "parading" back and forth in high-heeled boots and makeup in front of McInerney.

Following many delays and a change of venue, McInerney's first trial began on July 5, 2011, in the Los Angeles district of Chatsworth.

That trial ended on September 1, 2011, when Judge Charles Campbell declared a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Prosecutors decided to try McInerney again, but dropped the hate crime charge.

On November 21, 2011, McInerney avoided the scheduled retrial by pleading guilty to second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm.

His plea resulted in a sentence of 21 years behind bars.