Re: your Oct. 24 article, "McInerney attorney appeals to state court":
"Lying in wait" is a charge that assures trial in adult court. This is the newest addition to the charges against Brandon McInerney, who was 14 years, 3 weeks old at the time of Larry King's death. The thought of a 14-year- old boy waiting in a school hall for 20 minutes, outside the room in which he knew Larry King was sitting, sounds more like trying to get up nerve to resolve the problem -- perceived sexual harassment by an openly gay 15- year-old boy -- than "lying in wait." Had some adult even noticed that Brandon was in the school hall, let alone with a gun, Larry King might be alive.
Scholarly theologians -- educated, mature adults -- are in a frenzy because of inability for agreement over the perceived problems of homosexuality. However, our District Attorney's Office and prosecutor Maeve Fox think that a 13-year-old boy should have been able to handle this problem. Had he finally felt overwhelmed only four weeks earlier, he would have been assured of being tried as a 13-year-old juvenile.
Brandon's dad solved his problems with violence and a gun. His mom wasn't around because of Dad's solutions. This has gone on so long that when Brandon McInerney walks into court he will be a strapping 15- or 16-year-old, not a harassed 13-year- old.
How can the prosecutor who added a "lying in wait" charge, and the school authorities who weren't concerned for Brandon McInerney, and Larry King's family that abandoned him because of his sexual identity problems live with themselves? Murder isn't kid's play, but using up two kids to satisfy our so-called sense of justice doesn't make sense. The juvenile system is designed to work with troubled kids. Give it a chance.
-- Charleen Z. Behrschmidt, Camarillo