Mississippi Man Gets 49 Years For Transgender Teen’s Murder

A federal judge in Mississippi has sentenced a Gulfport man to 49 years in prison for murdering a transgender teenager, in the first-ever hate crime prosecution involving a transgender victim. Joshua Vallum, 29, plead guilty in the 2015 killing of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson and was sentenced to life in prison in July 2016 by an Alabama judge.  The Department of Justice later decided to pursue hat crime charges.  He was sentenced under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Vallum, a long time Latin Kings gang member, was arrested just days after the murder when his own father reported the crime to police.  He initially told investigators that he blacked out and killed Williamson when he discovered she was transgendered.  Several witnesses stepped forward saying that Vallum knew she was transgendered and the two had been in an 8 month relationship.

He later admitted that his motive for the killing was fear of being killed once fellow gang members found out.  Jeanie Miller, Williamson’s roommate testified that Vallum once told her and Williamson that his gang would kill both Vallum and Williamson if Williamson’s transgender status was discovered.  His brother Jacob saw him on the night of the murder covered in blood and testified that Vallum told him: ‘Well, it was my life or his.’

Prosecutors say Vallum killed Mercedes Williamson after the end of their relationship, because a friend learned that she was transgender, a fact Mr. Vallum kept hidden from friends and family while they dated.  On May 30^th, Vallum lured Williamson into his car in Alabama and drove her 50 miles to his family home near Lucedale, Mississippi.  He then shocked her with a stun gun and stabbed her in the body and head with a pocketknife.  When Williamson tried to run into the woods, Vallum chased her down and beat her to death with a hammer.

Vallum confessed to his father Bobby Vallum on June 1st that he had murdered and buried Williamson on the rural property. Bobby Vallum took the information to police, leading to Josh Vallum being charged with murder.  Williamson was one of at least 21 transgender people murdered in the U.S. in 2015.