![]() ![]() Vallum did not contest evidence in court that he had long known Williamson was trans.įederal prosecutor Julia Gegenheimer said during a plea hearing in December that Vallum began planning to kill Williamson after a friend called him last May to say he’d discovered she was trans. ![]() The roommate also testified that Vallum once told both her and Williamson that his gang would kill the couple if Williamson’s transgender status was discovered. Mercedes Williamson was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Josh Vallum with knives and a hammer. They cited a witness who testified that Vallum and Williamson had sex multiple times while she was roommates with Williamson. Vallum admitted in court that he targeted Williamson because she was trans.Īnd prosecutors have told the court that Vallum knew Williamson was trans long before he killed her. When the 17-year-old girl tried to run into the woods, he chased her down and bashed her head with a hammer, they said. He then proceeded to stab her in the body and head with a pocketknife, they added. Joshua Vallum, an ex-convict and top-ranking gang member, faces life in prison without parole for killing 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, who was born male but transitioned to a female. With a plea agreement in place, it’s unlikely Sessions could change the strategy in this prosecution. They described how he lured his girlfriend into a car in Alabama and drove 50 miles to his family home in Mississippi before shocking her with a stun gun. Sentencing in the Mississippi case is May 15. Vallum murdered Williamson because he was scared that his fellow Latin Kings gang members would discover their relationship and kill both of them because the gang forbids gay sex, prosecutors said. After learning his ex-grilfriend, Mercedes WIlliamson, was transgender, Vallum repeatedly stabbed her and hit her with a hammer. “If I could bring back Mercedes by giving up my life, I would gladly do so.” could sentence Vallum to as long as life in prison without parole. Vallum spoke to apologise for the murder, saying: “Every day, I live with the guilt and regret of my actions. Joshua Vallum is scheduled to appear before a federal judge Monday in Gulfport, Mississippi, after pleading guilty in December to hate crimes charges in the 2015 death of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson. The judge told the court: “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.” “It’s difficult to image how a mother could lock a two- or three-year-old child in a room for hours on end while adults did drugs.” Public defender Ellen Allred outlined how “Vallum lived through a childhood that was characterised by abandonment and neglect. Guirola chose to give the lesser sentence suggested in a plea agreement between the defence and prosecution, which cited Vallum’s neglected childhood among other issues, Associated Press has reported. ![]()
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