Legal News

Wrongful-death suit names nearly two dozen defendants in killing of teen

By Richard Binder

The family of a gay middle school student who was shot to death in class has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit that accuses the school district, a shelter and a gay rights organization of failing to protect him.

The teenager, Lawrence King, 15, of Oxnard, was killed last February. Brandon McInerney, a classmate at E. O. Green Junior High School, was charged as an adult and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and a hate crime.

The lawsuit was filed in Ventura County Superior Court by the victim?s parents and brother, and it names nearly two dozen defendants. In addition to Lawrence?s teacher and principal, the suit names Mr. McInerney and his parents; the nonprofit agency Casa Pacifica, a shelter for troubled children where Mr. King had been living; counselors; a county social worker; and the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance.

The school and the shelter knew that the young man?s behavior was ?sexually assertive? and threatening but failed to take action, the suit argues.

Read the full story at The New York Times.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 17, 2009 (boomark / email).