Details About The Execution Of Amber McLaughlin – The 1st Transgender Execution In The US.
- Amber McLaughlin became the first openly transgender person to be executed in the US.
- She was convicted of rape, armed criminal action, and first-degree murder.
- She struggled with mental health problems.
Amber McLaughlin was convicted of rape and murder
According to court documents, McLaughlin was given the death penalty for the murder of Beverly Guenther in November 2003.
Prior to the death, the two had been dating; however, they had since broken up, and Guenther had an order of protection against McLaughlin after she was detained for breaking into Guenther’s house.
A few weeks later, when the injunction was still in force, according to court documents, McLaughlin waited for Guenther outside the victim’s place of business. Blood splatters in the parking lot and in Guenther’s truck were used as evidence by the prosecution throughout the trial that McLaughlin repeatedly stabbed and sexually assaulted Guenther.
According to court records, a jury found McLaughlin guilty of first-degree murder, forcible rape, and armed criminal action.
McLaughlin became the first transgender person to be executed in the US
The execution of McLaughlin, the first in the US this year, is unusual: In the US, women are already rarely put to death.
According to the Death Sentence Information Center, just 17 people have been executed prior to McLaughlin’s execution since 1976, when the US Supreme Court restored the death penalty after a brief hiatus.
The non-profit organization verified McLaughlin’s status as the country’s first openly transgender death row inmate.
49-year-old McLaughlin and her legal team had petitioned Republican Governor Mike Parson for clemency, pleading with him to commute her death sentence. They assert that McLaughlin has demonstrated real remorse, and has battled an intellectual handicap, mental health problems, and a history of childhood trauma, aside from the fact that a jury could not agree on the death penalty.
However, Parson’s office said in a statement on Tuesday that the execution would go according to schedule. The statement read that Beverly Guenther’s family and loved ones “deserve peace.”
Parson said,
“The State of Missouri will carry out McLaughlin’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”
Read more: Zaya Wade: Her experience coming out as transgender
Details of the Amber McLaughlin case
After the pair split up, McLaughlin started stalking Guenther at her St. Louis place of business, occasionally hiding inside the premises, according to court documents. Guenther as a result got a restraining order.
Guenther’s neighbors reported her missing on November 20, 2003, and when police arrived at the office building they found a broken knife handle and a trail of blood close to her car. The following day, McLaughlin directed police to the location of Guenther’s body’s disposal.
Following the presentation of the mental health evidence for McLaughlin, a court ordered a new sentencing hearing in 2016. However, a federal appeals court panel affirmed the death penalty in 2021. Along with Indiana, Missouri is one of just two states that permits a judge, as opposed to a jury, to impose a death sentence.
According to McLaughlin’s mentor and former inmate Jessica Hicklin, who is transgender, McLaughlin started transitioning roughly three years ago.
As the pentobarbital dose was administered for her death as McLaughlin whispered softly to a spiritual advisor by her side. McLaughlin took several deep breaths before closing her eyes. She was declared deceased a short while afterward.
“I am sorry for what I did. I am a loving and caring person.”
She said in a written statement.
Also, read: Who is Kylian Mbappe’s Transgender Girlfriend Ines Rau?
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