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Classmates Testify In Murder Trial Of Gay Oxnard Student

LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) — Former classmates have testified that they saw Brandon McInerney shoot and kill an openly gay student at a Ventura County middle school but they shed no light on a motive for the 2008 attack.

The Los Angeles Times and Ventura County Star report that the students gave accounts of the shooting on Wednesday during McInerney's Los Angeles murder trial. McInerney cried in court as witnesses said they saw him shoot Larry King, 15, in the computer lab at E.O. Green Middle School in Oxnard.

McInerney was 14 at the time of the crime.

Prosecutors claim McInerney was a white supremacist who killed King in a hate crime. However, students testified that McInerney mainly hung out with black athletes.

The defense claims McInerney snapped after King repeatedly propositioned him and should face voluntary manslaughter rather than murder.

The trial continues Thursday.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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