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More from County NewsA memorial service is planned Friday for an Oxnard student who died after being shot at school last week.
A memorial service for Larry King, 15, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 755 Bard Road in Port Hueneme. The eighth-grader was shot Tuesday at E.O. Green School in Oxnard.
More than 100 messages were left as of Sunday afternoon on the Web site http://www.RememberLarry.com, created Thursday and dedicated to King.
Parents of students at the school also are invited to a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hueneme High School gym at 500 Bard Road in Oxnard to hear about emergency procedures.
King was shot in the head Tuesday by another student in his class, police say. He was declared brain-dead the next day and removed from life support on Thursday.
Prosecutors have charged 14-year-old Brandon McInerney with first-degree murder and committing a hate crime against King, who told friends he was teased because he was gay. Prosecutors have said McInerney is to be tried as an adult. He has not yet entered a plea and remains in custody in lieu of $770,000 bail.
Authorities have not released details on a motive, and prosecutors have declined to elaborate on the hate crime charge.
Posted by MissP on February 18, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a truly sad story. It appears that this boy had such a rough life. Why was he living at Casa Pacifica??? Casa Pacifica provides temporary shelter for children removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect or abandonment.
Posted by rebel123 on February 18, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Obviously there were some kind of issues with him living at home. But what difference does it make why he was at Casa Pacifica? There are many reasons a child might be referred and accepted into Casa Pacifica other than the ones you've mentioned. Bottom line, it really is not at all relevant to the situation.
Posted by MissP on February 18, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
rebel123 - It was only a question that is on my mind. Another story in the paper is about his family speaking out...they speak so fondly of him but there was a reason why he was removed from his home. It's just all so very sad.
Posted by Equitable_Enforcer on February 18, 2008 at 6:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It may well be that those who were trying to help Larry express himself are the very ones who set him up for violence. I'm talking about Casa Pacifica and gay rights advocacy groups. At a school with a reasonable dress code where a boy might be sent home for wearing the wrong color of trousers, would dressing in feminine attire be out of line? Is a 15 year old boy too young to be used as a tool for advocacy?
In any case, my heart goes out to Greg King and his family and I will pray for Larry. He was undoubtedly a very caring, loving and sensitive young man who was in need of help ... but perhaps not the kind of help offered by Casa Pacifica shrinks.
What happened to Larry was senseless. Though the words "hate crime" appear frequently on these pages, what we as a society need to understand is what drove Brandon McInerney to such a degree of hatred that he could commit such an act.
If McInerney is tried as an adult, perhaps we shall find out.
Posted by OxnardNative on February 20, 2008 at 6:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is all so very, very tragic. The world may never know the truth and I honestly think it does not matter anyhow. Pray for this poor child’s soul and for the boy who committed this act as well as the families left to grieve for what transpired. Pray for all the children of the world. We should all do whatever we can to help all the children still living on earth. Help the survivors to never do what these children have done that has put this situation upon us. Let the justice system do what they must do and let God pass final judgment. God bless us all.
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