JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi man has been sentenced to 49 years in prison for the first-ever conviction on federal hate crime charges arising from the killing of a transgender person.
A federal judge on Monday sentenced Joshua Vallum, who had previously been sentenced to life without parole on state murder charges.
Vallum acknowledged guilt in the 2015 death of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson. US District Judge Louis Guirola could have sentenced Vallum to life in federal prison, but stuck to a sentence suggested in a plea agreement between defense lawyers and prosecutors, citing Vallum’s neglected childhood and other issues.
Prosecutors say Vallum killed Williamson to keep fellow gang members from discovering they'd been having sex. Latin Kings rules ban homosexual activity and declare a punishment of death.
The case had been closely watched by LGBT groups nationwide, who cite studies showing transgender people are particularly likely to be victims of violent crimes.
A 2009 federal hate crimes law included protections for gay and transgender people, but of the 47 people prosecuted during the period reviewed by The Associated Press, none were for offenses against transgender people.
Williamson was born male but transitioned to female. Prosecutors say Vallum and Williamson dated and that Vallum killed Williamson because he worried fellow gang members would discover their relationship and kill both of them because gay sex was strictly forbidden by the gang.
In his defense, Vallum initially told sheriff’s deputies and later told The Sun Herald newspaper that he found out that Williamson had a penis on May 30, 2015, moments before he killed her. 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.
Prosecutors have said Vallum knew of Williamson’s transgender status long before he killed her.
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