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 WilliamsonвЂ™s transgender status, secret from his family, friends, and other members of the Latin Kings and Queens Nation gang to which he belonged. This is the first case prosecuted under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act involving a victim targeted because of gender identity.Дuring his plea hearing, Vallum admitted that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Williamson and that he knew Williamson was transgender. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a federal hate crime statute. 21, 2016, to a one-count Information that charged him with a violation of the Matthew Shepard, James Byrd Jr. Attorney Harold Brittain of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze of the FBIвЂ™s Jackson Division. All rights reserved.Joshua Brandon Vallum, 29, of Lucedale, Mississippi, was sentenced today in the Southern District of Mississippi to 49 years in prison for assaulting and murdering Mercedes Williamson because she was a transgender woman, announced Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice DepartmentвЂ™s Civil Rights Division, Acting U.S.

В§ 249) was passed by Congress in 2009, and enacted in 2010.Д¬opyright 2017 WLOX. Hate Crimes Prevent Action of 2009В (18 U.S.C. The outcome of this case would not have been possible without the partnership between local, state and federal law enforcement.' 'The FBI's mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States, and we will continue to pursue that mission in Mississippi. '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,' said Special Agent in Charge Freeze. 'The Justice Department will continue its efforts to vindicate the rights of those individuals who are affected by bias motivated crimes.' 'Today's sentencing reflects the importance of holding individuals accountable when they commit violent acts against transgender individuals,' said Attorney General Jeff Sessions. As part of his guilty plea, Vallum acknowledged that he would not have killed Williamson if she was not transgender. He also falsely claimed to investigators that he killed Williamson in a panic after discovering she was transgender. Prosecutors saidВ Vallum then tried to get rid of the murder weapons and other evidence linking him to the crime. Vallum admitted that he then used a stun gun to shock Williamson in the chest, repeatedly stabbed her, and hit her with a hammer until she died. On May 29, 2015, Vallum found Williamson at her home in Alabama, lured her into his car, and drove her to his father's home in Lucedale, Mississippi. After Vallum ended his romantic and sexual relationship with Williamson, he had no contact with her until May 2015. But he kept all of it a secret from hisВ family, friends, and other members of the Latin Kings and Queens Nation gang to which he belonged. Gang member sentenced to life for killing transgender teenДЄccording to prosecutors, Vallum admitted having a consensual sexual relationship with Williamson and that he knew Williamson was transgender.

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