Prosecutors on Feb. 14 charged a 14-year-old boy with attempted murder and said he committed a hate crime in the classroom shooting of a student in Oxnard, Calif., who has since been declared brain dead.
Prosecutors would not say why they filed a hate-crime enhancement with the attempted murder count, but classmates said the 15-year-old victim, Lawrence King, sometimes wore women’s clothes. Prosecutors want the suspect tried as an adult and expect to upgrade the charges after Mr. King is taken off a ventilator for organ donation.
The victim was shot in the head Feb. 12 during a class at E.O. Green Junior High School, police said. More than 20 other students were in the room at the time.
