![]() Vallum lured Williamson into a car in Alabama by saying they were going to have sex and drove her 50 miles to his family home in Lucedale, Miss., prosecutors have said. Vallum shocked her with a stun gun and stabbed her in the body and head with a pocketknife, prosecutors. Vallum began planning to kill Williamson after a friend called him in May of 2015, to say he had discovered her identity, federal prosecutor Julia Gegenheimer said during Vallum’s plea hearing last December. The gang forbids homosexual activity and declared it punishable by death. The couple had split in 2014. Prosecutors said Vallum killed Williamson because he feared the Latin Kings would find out he had dated a transgender woman. The couple had broken up the previous year. The Justice Department will continue its efforts to vindicate the rights of those individuals who are affected by bias motivated crimes.” Mercedes Williamson was 17 when Josh Vollum killed her in 2015. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement: “Today’s sentencing reflects the importance of holding individuals accountable when they commit violent acts against transgender individuals. Williamson’s slaying made headlines when Caitlyn Jenner mentioned the teen during an acceptance speech for an award in 2015. Many LGBT advocates were closely watching the Mississippi case. Former President Barack Obama signed the federal legislation in 2009 and it went into effect in 2010. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was used to prosecute a case with a transgender victim, the Justice Department said in a statement. Monday’s sentencing marked the first time the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Vallum had previously pleaded guilty in state court to murder and had been sentenced to life in prison. Vallum had pleaded guilty to the hate crime, admitting that he killed his former girlfriend because he was afraid that his fellow Latin King gang members would find out that she was transgender. WASHINGTON – In a landmark for hate-crime legislation, a Mississippi man was sentenced Monday to 49 years in prison and fined $20,000 for killing his 17-year-old transgender ex-girlfriend, the Justice Department said.Ī federal judge sentenced Joshua Vallum, 29, of Gulfport, for killing Mercedes Williamson, 17, in 2015. hate-crime law was used to prosecute someone charged with victimizing a transgender person. ![]() ![]() The case, watched closely by LGBT activists, marked the first time a U.S. He was sentenced Monday in federal court in Gulfport, Miss. Josh Valum, 29, killed ex-girlfriend Mercedes Williamson, 17, because he feared the Latin Kings would find out she was transgender. Williamson had transitioned from male to female before dropping out of high school in Alabama, leaving her parents’ home and drifting from place to place. However, Vallum has never contested testimony and evidence that he long knew Williamson was transgender.Ī witness in state court had testified previously that Vallum and Williamson had sex multiple times while the witness was a roommate with Williamson. He declined to speak with The Associated Press in a March letter, citing advice from his lawyers, and didn’t address the issue Monday. He said he “blacked out” and doesn’t remember the crime, a variation of what’s known as a “gay panic” or “trans panic” defense. Vallum initially told sheriff’s deputies and later told The Sun Herald newspaper that he found out that Williamson had a penis on moments before he killed her. Vallum can’t go back and undo what he did to Mercedes,” Allred said. She cited the Trump administration’s reversal of guidelines that transgender students nationwide should be able to use school bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity - among other steps.Īllred said Vallum first tried to kill himself when he was 7 or 8. Gordon said her group remains concerned how Trump policies will affect transgender people. ![]() LGBT advocates applauded federal officials’ first use of the 2009 hate crimes law to prosecute an offense against a transgender person.ĭemoya Gordon, attorney for the Transgender Rights Project of Lambda Legal, called the prosecution “significant” but noted it began under President Barack Obama’s administration and added “the cake was already baked” on Vallum’s sentencing when Donald Trump became president. “The Justice Department will continue its efforts to vindicate the rights of those individuals who are affected by bias motivated crimes.” “Today’s sentencing reflects the importance of holding individuals accountable when they commit violent acts against transgender individuals,” Sessions said in a statement. The case, watched nationally amid concerns transgender women are particularly vulnerable to violence, drew comment from U.S.
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