A US teenager was sentenced on Monday to 21 years in state prison for shooting a gay student in the back of the head, killing him during a computer lab class three years ago.
Brandon McInerney, 17, didn't speak at the hearing but his lawyer Scott Wippert said his client was sorry for killing 15-year-old Larry King.
"He feels deeply remorseful and stated repeatedly if he could go back and take back what he did he would do it in a heartbeat," Wippert said.
King's family said they couldn't forgive their son's killer. "You took upon yourself to be a bully and to hate a smaller kid, wanting to be the big man on campus," King's father, Greg King, said on behalf of his wife. "You have left a big hole in my heart where Larry was and it can never be filled."
In a deal reached with Ventura County prosecutors last month, McInerney agreed to avoid a retrial and to plead guilty to second-degree murder, as well as one count each of voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm.