Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California , who was shot twice by a fellow student, year-old Brandon McInerney, and kept on life support for two days afterwards. Newsweek described the shooting as "the most prominent gay-bias crime since the murder of Matthew Shepard ", bringing attention to issues of gun violence as well as gender expression and sexual identity of teenagers.
Following many delays and a change of venue, McInerney's first trial began on July 5, , in the Los Angeles district of Chatsworth. That trial ended on September 1, , 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, , 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 imprisonment. Lawrence Fobes King was born on January 13, [ 6 ] at the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura , California , to a year-old mother who was addicted to crack-cocaine and alcohol.
King was half African-American. 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. King found a marginally more accepting environment at E. Green Junior High School in the seventh grade. He hung out with a group of girls, [ 3 ] 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.
