Lawrence King

Charged as an adult with first-degree murder and a hate crime for shooting 15-year-old King at their school in Oxnard, Calif., junior high student Brandon McInerney entered a plea of not guilty at the Ventura County Superior Court Thursday, The Associated Press reported.

If convicted, McInerney faces 51 years to life without the possibility of parole. His defense attorney William Quest asked that his client be tried on a lesser charge of manslaughter, telling the court that the boy could die in prison. 

“This is essentially a death sentence for Brandon McInerney,” said Quest. “That is the only way Brandon does not die in prison.”

But prosecutors said they have no intention of lessening the charge.

“Going from being on the beach to being locked in a cage until he dies, it's hard for anyone to contemplate that, much less a 14-year-old,” Quest said.

McInerney’s arraignment had been delayed over whether or not he could be tried as an adult for the crime but two weeks ago a superior court judge declared a California initiative affording prosecutors exclusive authority to charge defendants as adults to be constitutional and allowing McInerney to be charged as an adult. That decision is under appeal.

King had been facing increased bullying from students for saying he was gay and for often showing up at school wearing make-up and high-heeled boots in the time leading up to his murder, according to the New York Times. 

The accused walked up to King in a computer lab at their Oxnard Junior High school and shot the boy in the head, killing him, according to the New York Times.

King’s parents, Greg King and Dawn King, who support McInerney being charged as an adult, were at the court house to hear the plea.

“He went into a classroom in front of other students and shot my son in the back of the head twice,” father Greg King said. “For his age to be taken into consideration – he didn't take my son's age into consideration.”