First Death Sentence For A Transgender Person In The US: Amber Was 49 Years Old

Missouri has carried out the first death sentence against a transgender person in the USA: It is Amber McLaughlin, 49 years old. He had asked for the governor’s pardon but had received none.

Convicted of murdering her ex-girlfriend in 2003

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson refused to pardon Amber McLaughlin, 49, who became the first openly transgender woman to be executed in the United States. His execution for killing an ex-girlfriend in 2003 was carried out on the Italian night. An online petition urging Parson to stop the execution was launched yesterday morning in vain, gathering nearly 4,900 of the 6,400 signatures requested.

The plea for clemency

Attorneys filed a plea for clemency with the governor on December 12, asking Parson to partially commute McLaughlin’s sentence to life in prison because she had been given the death penalty by a single St. Louis County judge in violation of a decision by the jury. Missouri, they explain, is one of only two states, along with Indiana, that allow trial judges to hand down death sentences in deadlocked juries. The clemency plea focuses on several elements, including McLaughlin’s traumatic childhood and mental health issues brought on by a series of abuses that left her suffering from depression and multiple suicide attempts.