Family blames school for gay teen's death

dga · #1 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 01:54 PM

Quote:

VENTURA, California (AP) -- The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school -- factors the family claims led to the death.

The parents and brother of 15-year-old Larry King of Oxnard filed a personal injury claim against the Hueneme school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code.

Sounds like grieving parents (kind of), until you ask yourselves why if this was a concern did they not address it themselves at home...

Quote:

His parents, Dawn and Gregory King, said faculty members knew their son had "unique vulnerabilities" and was subject to abuse because of his sexual orientation.

King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting.

Poor child, with parents like these, he never stood a chance,

.

Then the perp, another travesty in bad parenting...

Quote:

Classmate Brandon McInerney pleaded not guilty to the shooting last week. He was charged as an adult and also faces a charge of committing a hate crime.

Bad parenting should be at a bare minimum a misdemeanor,

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/15/....ap/index.html

cnredd · #2 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 02:54 PM

Everybody's wrong...

Obviously, the shooter (Are they SURE he shot the kid because of his appearance and/or sexual orientation? Or was there some other factor(drugs, money, etc.?)..

Parents are a-holes...

The school district (for allowing the breakage of the dress code - Also, if the kid was shot because of his appearance and/or sexual orientation, a complete failure for not seeing any escalation to this)...

Point of order...

Quote:

King was a ward of the court and living at a shelter for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children at the time of the shooting.

I'd like to know of the kid's behavior beforehand...Abused and neglected are obvious, but if this kid was "emotionally troubled", he may have had a history of treating others innappropriately (and no, I'm not blaming him for his own shooting)...

faithful_servant · #3 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dga

Sounds like grieving parents (kind of), until you ask yourselves why if this was a concern did they not address it themselves at home...

Poor child, with parents like these, he never stood a chance,

.

Then the perp, another travesty in bad parenting...

Bad parenting should be at a bare minimum a misdemeanor,

Family blames school for gay teen's death - CNN.com

Hold on... You're making an assumption about the victims parents without knowing all the facts. I'll agree that they probably weren't good parents, but it's not a guarantee. For all we know, the kid had himself pulled out of his parents home because he claimed they were causing him emotional harm by not allowing him dress like a girl. Don't jump to conclusions with only bits and pieces of the truth.

Also, both of these kids were pretty screwed up. The victim was intentionally confrontational about his homosexuality and was actively hitting on the accused, in spite of the accused's repeated attempts to get him to stop. This doesn't excuse what he did, but the victim bears a measure of responsibility for this as well. When you keep doing something that pisses someone off for no reason other than to piss them off, you've got no call to bitch when they do something to stop you.

Read this article from the Ventura County Star about this:
Suspected school shooter's childhood marred by violence : Oxnard : Ventura County Star

Quote:

The text messages started soon after the shooting stopped.

E.O. Green School students huddled behind locked classroom doors and messaged one another about what had happened in Room 42. Minutes after school had begun Feb. 12, classmate Larry King was shot in the head.

As the suspect's name passed from cell phone to cell phone, disbelief set in. Not Brandon McInerney, his friends said. No way.

"Brandon wouldn't do this," eighth-grader Jessica Lee remembers thinking. "He's a good kid. It can't be Brandon."

But some at the Oxnard junior high school had seen Larry, 15, teased by students in the weeks before the shooting for being gay and wearing high-heeled boots and makeup. Some witnessed confrontations between Larry and Brandon, with Larry teasing Brandon and saying he liked him.

Family members and friends described Larry as a sweet, artistic boy who loved to sing and didn't understand why people reacted negatively to him.

Brandon, 14, a tall, athletic eighth-grader, was described by friends and acquaintances as a mellow, focused kid, but one who wouldn't back down in a confrontation.

Brandon's parents declined to be interviewed, but court records portray a troubled marriage that included drug abuse, alcohol and violence.

In the days before the shooting, Brandon had been heard telling Larry to leave him alone, that he would hurt him. Something was building, friends said.

"We never thought he would do anything like that," said Lauren Banda, one of the many teens who hung out with Brandon around Silver Strand Beach, a seaside community with a sometimes rough edge.

Brandon was arrested a few blocks from the school and later charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime. Three weeks after Brandon's 14th birthday, prosecutors announced he would be tried as an adult.

Childhood marred by violence

<snip>

Brandon was 6 when his parents separated, but problems between Kendra and William McInerney started before Brandon was born.

<snip>
<snip>

Conni Lawrence said her son has known Brandon since the second grade, and over the years she saw him alternately be charming and a bully. "Brandon picked on what was different," she said.

Jimmy Stanfill also remembers seeing Brandon's sometimes-aggressive side. Although Brandon was generally a mellow kid with a dry sense of humor, he wouldn't back away from a confrontation, Stanfill said. The two once got into a scuffle when both were in the Junior Lifeguard program, even though Stanfill was two years older than Brandon.

"He was a good kid, but he didn't take any crap," Stanfill said. "If you pushed him, he'd push you back."

Teasing Larry

Weeks before the shooting, the teasing intensified when Larry came to school wearing high-heeled boots, makeup and earrings along with his school uniform of pants and a shirt. Larry told friends he was being teased by fellow students because he was gay. Still, he insisted on being himself.

"He said, I'm proud. I don't care if other people tease me,'" said eighth-grader Matthew Hernandez, 13.

<snip>

Larry didn't just take it. If kids didn't want to have contact with a gay person, Larry would chase after them, Matthew said.

Hailey Day, 13, said she regularly heard Brandon calling Larry derogatory names the week before the shooting. She would tell him to stop, and Brandon would walk away.

'Lots of rumors'

In the days before the shooting, Brandon was hanging out around Silver Strand with his friends, doing what they always did: sitting on the jetty, hanging around the taco stand.

Brandon's friend Lauren said the rumors about Larry "hitting on" Brandon were heating up. Kids were joking that Brandon must be gay if Larry was acting that way toward him.

Eduardo Segure, an eighth-grader, said he saw Larry looking at Brandon the day before the shooting and saying he liked him. Brandon turned to Larry and told him to "F--- off" before walking away.

At lunchtime that day, Hailey said, Larry went up to a table where Brandon was eating and asked to sit down. Brandon and his friends ran away, mocking Larry as they left.

"There are a lot of rumors," said Brandon's friend Jessica, who never saw any arguments between the two. "No one knows what was going through his head. No one really knows for sure."

The day of the shooting, Larry seemed upset, friends said. He had come to school looking different. Gone were the boots and makeup. He wore regular tennis shoes and had his hair gelled and carefully combed to the side, said seventh-grader Laura Gilchrist.

"I said, Dude, what's wrong?'" Matthew said. "He said, Nothing.'"

A move to Casa Pacifica

A makeshift memorial outside E.O. Green became a candlelight tribute to Larry. Stuffed teddy bears sit among wilting flowers. Messages attached to a flagpole promise to never forget him.

<snip>

About four months before he was killed, however, Larry moved to Casa Pacifica, a residential facility near Camarillo for abused, neglected and emotionally troubled children. His father, Greg King, declined to discuss why, as have authorities, who cite confidentiality laws.

The autopsy showed no signs of previous injury or child abuse, according to the medical examiner.

Larry lived in the 45-bed emergency shelter. Specialists assess and treat children before a judge decides whether to reunite them with their families or place them in foster or group homes. Casa bused Larry to E.O. Green for classes, as required by law.

It was then that Larry began to wear makeup and earrings, although more than a year ago he had begun attending meetings of a support group for gay, bisexual and transgender youth at the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance in Ventura.

<snip>

So one side, you've got a kid who grew up in a violent, abusive situation and on the other you've got a kid who pushed his buttons. There's no excuse for the accused's decision to kill the victim, but the victim in this case contributed to the situation that led to his death. He is not without responsibility for what happened.

dga · #4 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by faithful_servant

Hold on... You're making an assumption about the victims parents without knowing all the facts. I'll agree that they probably weren't good parents, but it's not a guarantee. For all we know, the kid had himself pulled out of his parents home because he claimed they were causing him emotional harm by not allowing him dress like a girl. Don't jump to conclusions with only bits and pieces of the truth.

Also, both of these kids were pretty screwed up. The victim was intentionally confrontational about his homosexuality and was actively hitting on the accused, in spite of the accused's repeated attempts to get him to stop. This doesn't excuse what he did, but the victim bears a measure of responsibility for this as well. When you keep doing something that pisses someone off for no reason other than to piss them off, you've got no call to bitch when they do something to stop you.

Read this article from the Ventura County Star about this:
Suspected school shooter's childhood marred by violence : Oxnard : Ventura County Star

So one side, you've got a kid who grew up in a violent, abusive situation and on the other you've got a kid who pushed his buttons. There's no excuse for the accused's decision to kill the victim, but the victim in this case contributed to the situation that led to his death. He is not without responsibility for what happened.

Kids normally act out, but when it is this severe there must be a reason, usually because they don't have the emotional support they need at home. In the case of both kids the neglect was documented, and I don't see a kid that has loving and supporting parents checking himself into what I'm sure is the four stars luxury facility for the "abused, neglected and emotionally troubled".

Any unwanted advances from the victim I am sure will be used to their utter advantage by the defense attorney as mitigating circumstances. Obviously this victim messed with the wrong guy at the wrong time, he paid the price and so will the perp, everyone loses,

.

Obviously what bothered me the most are the bloodsucking parents that are actually trying to gain from a situation to which they obviously contributed to, IMO.

tristanrobin · #5 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 03:56 PM

Quote:

This doesn't excuse what he did, but the victim bears a measure of responsibility for this as well. When you keep doing something that pisses someone off for no reason other than to piss them off, you've got no call to bitch when they do something to stop you.

Do you also believe that a pretty girl is partly responsible for her own rape because she didn't "downplay" her attractiveness?

Do you believe when missionaries in areas of the world where Christianity is not recognized nor wanted, they are partly responsible for their own torture and death?

If this had been a girl who flirted with the very disinterested shooter, would she also have been partly responsible for her death?

dga · #6 (**permalink**) 08-15-2008, 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tristanrobin

If this had been a girl who flirted with the very disinterested shooter, would she also have been partly responsible for her death?

The article clearly states that it started with the perp teasing the victim. The kid's response was an "in your face" approach, and the perp being violent decided to shoot him. In every aspect, the victim was always the victim,

Tarja Turunen · #7 (**permalink**) 08-16-2008, 03:24 AM

The parents should have put their foot down and not indulged Larry. They are the ones at fault for allowing him to go to school dressed as a girl. Perhaps they refuse to admit that their son was sexually harrassing Brandan?

saltwn · #8 (**permalink**) 08-17-2008, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dga

Sounds like grieving parents (kind of), until you ask yourselves why if this was a concern did they not address it themselves at home...

Poor child, with parents like these, he never stood a chance,

.

Then the perp, another travesty in bad parenting...

Bad parenting should be at a bare minimum a misdemeanor,

Family blames school for gay teen's death - CNN.com

Why are you automatically blaming the parents of both these boys? Who knows why the kid was in a shelter. He might have become unmanageable or run away and told a bunch of falsehoods on his parents to get his way (not an unheard of situation today). The other boys parents could have done every thing they could to bring up there son correctly and maybe he just had his own mind about things. If the "system" took that boy out of the parent's care and then by some social experiment led him to a tragic death, the parents have every right to sue.
Oh bad parents didn't understand Johnny needed to express himself and the fairy god mother (no pun intended) social system took him away to a nice place where he could be himself.
Well hey, if his redneck daddy tried to warn him with, "Son, yer gonna get yer a$$ kicked if you dress like that today" why was that wrong?

crazyflamingos · #9 (**permalink**) 08-17-2008, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

Why are you automatically blaming the parents of both these boys? Who knows why the kid was in a shelter. He might have become unmanageable or run away and told a bunch of falsehoods on his parents to get his way (not an unheard of situation today). The other boys parents could have done every thing they could to bring up there son correctly and maybe he just had his own mind about things. If the "system" took that boy out of the parent's care and then by some social experiment led him to a tragic death, the parents have every right to sue.
Oh bad parents didn't understand Johnny needed to express himself and the fairy god mother (no pun intended) social system took him away to a nice place where he could be himself.
Well hey, if his redneck daddy tried to warn him with, "Son, yer gonna get yer a$$ kicked if you dress like that today" why was that wrong?

Or maybe DGA has -- as I have -- read other articles that explain more about the boys' backgrounds.

It seems that no one wants to say why Larry was removed from his parents' home so you could be right about him.

But the shooter, Brandon, was just following in his violent father's footsteps..

Quote:

Kendra McInerney, Brandon's mother, claimed a night of partying in 1993 ended in a fight and William shooting her in the elbow, breaking it in several places, according to court records. Still, they married later that year, and Brandon was born in January 1994.

The fighting didn't stop, and sometimes it was witnessed by Brandon and his two older half-brothers, according to court records. In 2000, William pleaded no contest to a domestic battery charge against Kendra. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and ordered to attend domestic violence classes. The couple separated in August 2000.

Kendra claimed that in September 2000, William choked her "until she was almost unconscious" and dragged her by her hair during a fight about prescription drugs, according to court records. The medicine belonged to one of Brandon's half-brothers. Each parent claimed the other was taking the boy's pills.

During the fight, Kendra said, she called out for her older sons to call police and leave the house. She later told officers there had been numerous other incidents between her and William, but she had not reported them, according to court records.

Suspected school shooter's childhood marred by violence : Oxnard : Ventura County Star

dga · #10 (**permalink**) 08-17-2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saltwn

Why are you automatically blaming the parents of both these boys? Who knows why the kid was in a shelter. He might have become unmanageable or run away and told a bunch of falsehoods on his parents to get his way (not an unheard of situation today). The other boys parents could have done every thing they could to bring up there son correctly and maybe he just had his own mind about things. If the "system" took that boy out of the parent's care and then by some social experiment led him to a tragic death, the parents have every right to sue.
Oh bad parents didn't understand Johnny needed to express himself and the fairy god mother (no pun intended) social system took him away to a nice place where he could be himself.
Well hey, if his redneck daddy tried to warn him with, "Son, yer gonna get yer a$$ kicked if you dress like that today" why was that wrong?

It is possibly because I put a great deal of weight on good parenting in the outcome of productive members of society. Being a parent is a privilege, not a right, and I resent people who don't take the time and effort to do it right, or at least to the best of their ability. If Larry's parents overindulged and spoiled him to the point where he called social services to "pick him up", then they are just as much at fault as if they had neglected, abused or mistreated him - bad parenting comes in many forms. Either way, it takes quite a lot to get put into "the system". While there is no way to be sure, I personally doubt the parents were the guiltless party in that outcome. I'd really love to hear the outcome of that lawsuit though.

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