Calif. teen faces trial in gay classmate killing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Southern California teen faces trial on charges of gunning down a gay classmate in front of other students at a middle school in 2008.

Opening statements begin Tuesday in Los Angeles in the first-degree murder trial of Brandon McInerney, who was 14 when 15-year-old classmate Larry King was killed.

McInerney is being tried as an adult on charges that include lying in wait and a hate crime. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.

Court documents say that the day before the shooting King said “I love you” to McInerney in the hallway of E.O. Green Junior High School in the Ventura County community of Oxnard.

The case was moved to Los Angeles County for trial.