Amber McLaughlin: The first transgender woman to be sentenced to death in America
St. Louis, AP. Amber McLaughlin, 49, would become the first transgender woman to be executed in the US if Missouri Governor Mike Parson does not grant her clemency. He is to be executed by injection on Tuesday for the murder of an ex-girlfriend in 2003.
There is no appeal pending in the court
McLaughlin’s attorney, Larry Komp, said there is no appeal pending in court. The clemency request focuses on a number of matters, including McLaughlin’s traumatic childhood and mental health issues, which the jury never heard at her trial.
Suffering from depression
According to the clemency petition, he is suffering from depression. He has attempted suicide several times. The petition also includes reports citing a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. It is a condition that causes pain and other symptoms as a result of a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and their assigned sex at birth.
Ongoing review process of clemency request
Her attorney, Larry Komp, said Monday, “We think Amber has displayed incredible courage because I can tell you there is a lot of hate when it comes to that issue.” He said McLaughlin’s sexual identity was “not the main focus” of the clemency request. Parson’s spokeswoman Kelly Jones said the review process for the clemency request is still ongoing.
No case of a transgender prisoner being hanged before in America has come to the fore. Prior to the gender transition, McLaughlin was in a relationship with girlfriend Beverly Guenther. McLaughlin used to show up at the suburban St. Louis office where Guenther, 45, worked, according to court records. He would sometimes hide inside the building.
Guenther’s neighbors called the police on the night of November 20, 2003, when she did not return home. Officers went to the office building, where they found a broken knife handle and traces of blood near his car. A day later, McLaughlin led police to a spot near the Mississippi River in St. Louis, where the body was dumped.
Convicted of first-degree murder
McLaughlin was convicted of first-degree murder in 2006. A judge sentenced McLaughlin to death after the jury deadlocked on sentencing. A court ordered new sentencing hearings in 2016, but a federal appeals court panel reinstated the death penalty in 2021.
One person who knew Amber is Jessica Hicklin, 43, who spent 26 years in prison for a drug-related murder in western Missouri in 1995. She was 16 years old. Due to his age when the crime occurred, he was released in January 2022. Hicklin, 43, sued the Missouri Department of Corrections in 2016, challenging a policy prohibiting hormone therapy for inmates who were incarcerated. She won the case in 2018 and became a mentor to other transgender inmates, including McLaughlin.
Till now only woman got death sentence in Missouri
The only woman ever executed in Missouri was Bonnie B. Heady, who was executed on December 18, 1953, for the kidnapping and murder of a 6-year-old boy. Headey was executed in the gas chamber along with another kidnapper and murderer, Carl Austin Hall.
Nationally, 18 people were executed in Missouri in 2022. Kevin Johnson, 37, was given the death penalty for the November 29 ambush of a Kirkwood, Missouri police officer. Carman Deck was executed in May for killing James and Zelma Long during a robbery at their home in De Soto, Missouri. Another Missouri inmate, Leonard Taylor, is scheduled to be executed on February 7 for murdering his girlfriend and their three young children.
