One Gets 21 years, While The Other Gets No More Years

Brandon McInerney [l] and Larry King [r]

Brandon McInerney, the Southern California teenager who shot Larry King, a gay classmate, twice in the back of the head, because he felt King was flirting with him, will be spending the next 21 years in prison, after reaching a plea deal that effectively ends the case.

Except that Larry King doesn't have the option of where to spend the next 21 years.

Brandon McInerney has already served nearly four years in jail and could be released by the time he is 38; Larry King will never be 38.

McInerney’s first trial ended with jurors split between convicting him of voluntary manslaughter and first-degree murder; prosecutors, in deciding to try McInerney a second time, dropped the allegation that the shooting was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals, an accusation that several jurors in the original trial said they did not believe.

Was McInerney, as prosecutors portrayed him, a budding white supremacist who hated homosexuals and was enraged by Larry King's open sexuality and flirtation? Was McInerney the product of a violent and dysfunctional home who had reached an emotional breaking point in response to King's advances?

Who cares. Brandon McInerney didn't like Larry King flirting with him, so he brought a gun to school, searched out Larry King and shot him twice in the back of the head. As though they were no other options.

And that gets 21 years while Larry Kind gets a headstone.

source