Joshua vallum1/3/2024 ![]() ![]() "Every day, I live with the guilt and regret of my actions," Vallum said. On Monday, Vallum begged forgiveness from Williamson's family and friends, though none of them were present - only a few reporters, the judge and Vallum's father and stepmother. He previously pleaded guilty to a state murder charge that led to a separate sentence of life without parole. Vallum pleaded guilty to the federal charges in December. "The taking of a human life because a person has a particular gender identity is particularly heinous and cannot be tolerated in an enlightened society," Guirola said in court in Gulfport. Both the judge and defense lawyers said Vallum's history of abuse as a child had to be considered. Guirola could have sentenced Vallum to life in prison, but heeded a lesser sentence suggested in a plea agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors, citing Vallum's neglected childhood and other issues. When Williamson tried to run, they said, Vallum chased her and bashed her head with a hammer. They added he shocked her with a stun gun and stabbed her with a pocketknife. Vallum lured Williamson into a car in Alabama and drove her 50 miles to his family home near Lucedale, Mississippi, prosecutors said. Gang rules barred homosexual activity and declared it punishable by death.įederal prosecutor Julia Gegenheimer said Vallum began planning to kill Williamson after a friend called him in May 2015 to say he had discovered Williamson's identity. Prosecutors said Vallum shocked 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson with a stun gun, stabbed her and beat her to death in 2015 to keep fellow Latin Kings gang members from discovering the two were having sex. It was the first case prosecuted under the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act involving a victim targeted because of gender identity. sentenced Joshua Vallum in the 2015 killing of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, reported The Associated Press. In a case watched by the LGBT community nationwide, U.S. Joshua Vallum was sentenced to 49 years in prison on Monday for the first-ever conviction on federal hate crime charges arising from the killing of a transgender woman. ![]()
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