The Tragic Case of Larry and Brandon

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Recommended: Differences and similarities between juvenile and adult criminal systems

The Tragic Case of Larry and Brandon
The tragic case of Larry and Brandon is a compelling story. It is a reality that stunned the city of Oxnard California when a 14-year-old boy named Brandon McInerney fatally shot a fellow classmate, Larry King, twice in the back of the head. The incident occurred in a computer lab where Brandon ran off after committing the crime. As a result of his actions Brandon McInerney was tried as an adult and was sentenced to 21 years in prison with no chance of parole. He will be released at the age of 39. Now the underlying question is was Brandon’s sentence a just resolution or should he have received more or less years in prison. The truth is that I believe Brandon’s verdict was a fair and just punishment, however I don’t believe that he should have been tried as an adult. There’s no question about it what Brandon did was horrible. He killed a kid in cold blood and ran off after doing it. He knows what he did and now he has to suffer the consequences. But Brandon was only 14 years old when this had taken place.
To start off Brandon was in many ways provoked by Larry. Attorneys for Brandon McInerney argue that their client, who was 14 when he gunned down Larry King in an Oxnard junior high school computer lab, was so humiliated by King's flirtation that it provoked him to kill his classmate. Larry approached Brandon numerous times upsetting him in different ways. There are even rumors about King blowing kisses at McInerney and asking him to be his valentine. On the day before the shooting King loudly said “Love you, baby!” to McInerney as they passed in a corridor. King’s sexual advances fueled his anger towards Larry. Brandon saw that Larry was allowed to come to school wearing girls clothing and m...

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...en tried as an adult simply because he wasn’t. They even went as far as to signing a petition asking to try Brandon in a Juvenile. Court. The Jury eventually United in saying that trying Brandon as an adult is a mistake. They wore bracelets that advocated to Brandon.
In ending there is no happing ending. There is no bright side or silver lining to this story. Larry was killed and the person who shot him now has to throw away his life by spending more than two decades in prison. And the thing is that Larry will never come back, no matter how many years Brandon is put in jail for. Like I said before what Brandon did was wrong and receiving a slap on the wrist isn’t a sufficient punishment. He has to suffer the consequences of his actions. The only that can come out of this is a lesson. What we can only do now is hope that something like this will never happen again.

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