An American teenager who shot dead his gay classmate has agreed to a plea deal in which he will spend 21 years in jail.
McInerney, who was 14 at the time, shot Lawrence King (15) twice in the head at the E.O. Green Junior High School in California in 2008.
After the murder, McInerney told a psychologist that he found the openly gay McInerney, who wore makeup and female clothing to school, “superdisgusting” and that “I sat and I thought about it over and over… all I could think about was I wanted to kill him”.
McInerney was charged as an adult but in September, despite overwhelming evidence, a jury was unable to agree if he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter or of murder. The trial was declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors initially said that they planned to retry the case but admitted that the outcome was uncertain.
The deal, in which McInerney (now 17) pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm, finally brings the legal battle to an end.
