Vallum drove Williamson to his father’s residence in Lucedale, Mississippi. On May 29, 2015, Vallum located Williamson at her residence in Alabama and used false pretenses to lure Williamson into his car so he could drive her to Mississippi. Vallum believed he would be in danger if other Latin Kings members found out that he had engaged in a consensual sexual relationship with a transgender woman. “Vallum admitted, as part of his guilty plea, that on May 28, 2015, he decided to kill Williamson after learning that a friend had discovered Williamson was transgender. After Vallum terminated his romantic and sexual relationship with Williamson, he had no contact with her until May 2015. During his romantic relationship with Williamson, Vallum kept the sexual nature of the relationship, as well as Williamson’s transgender status, secret from his family, friends, and other members of the Latin Kings and Queens Nation gang to which he belonged. “During his plea hearing, Vallum admitted that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Williamson and that he knew Williamson was transgender. Here is how the Justice Department lays out Vallum’s crime: BuzzFeed News reports the state does not have its own hate crimes law on the books. Vallum is already serving a life sentence for the same incident, having pleaded guilty to murder last July in a case brought by the state of Mississippi. “heeded a lesser sentence suggested in a plea agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors, citing Vallum’s neglected childhood and other issues,” according to The Associated Press. He faced a sentence of up to life in prison, though U.S. 14, 2016, Vallum pleaded guilty just one week later. Hate Crimes Prevention Act - a law that was expanded in 2009 to cover victims attacked specifically for their gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.Ĭharged on Dec.
The Justice Department says it’s the first case “involving a victim targeted because of gender identity” that has been prosecuted under the Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Jr.
“Crimes motivated by hate have devastating effects on the victims, their families and community, but also leave a blemish on our society as a whole,” Christopher Freeze, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Jackson Division, said in a statement. Vallum had pleaded guilty last year to the 2015 assault and murder of Mercedes Williamson, a 17-year-old transgender woman whom he says he once dated. On Monday, he was sentenced to 49 years in prison for a federal hate crime - the first such case prosecuted for a crime specifically targeting a victim due to gender identity.Ī federal court in Mississippi handed down a 49-year prison sentence on Monday to Joshua Brandon Vallum, the first person ever prosecuted under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act for targeting a victim because of gender identity. Joshua Vallum (left) is sworn in before entering a guilty plea on state charges at George County Circuit Court in Lucedale, Miss., last July.