Man accused of stabbing 17yr old transgender girl to death and then burying her in his backyard | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Man accused of stabbing 17yr old transgender girl to death and then burying her in his backyard

A known gang member who was arrested last month for allegedly stabbing to death a transgender girl in Mississippi appeared in court today for a preliminary hearing in the murder case.

Joshua Vallum, 28, (left) was arrested on June 2, the day police recovered the body of 17-year-old transgender teen Mercedes Williamson (right) buried in his father's backyard.
 

The murder case in a rural Mississippi town gained national attention last month, when Caitlyn Jenner mentioned Williamson as just one of the many transgender teens murdered in the U.S. this year.

Prosecutors say Vallum admitted to his father on June 1 that he killed someone and hid their body in the wooded area behind the house.

Vallum allegedly told police that the remains belonged to Williamson, and his admission was confirmed with a DNA analysis.  

Since then, the member of the Latin Kings gang has been held on $1million bail for first-degree murder charges. 

While the motivation behind the attack is still not known, police have said that they are looking into whether Williamson's status as a transgender woman may have played a role in her cruel end. 

'We're looking at several different things. It could have been gang-related, it could have been a hate crime, we're not certain yet,' Shonna Pierce, public information officer for the George County Sheriff's office, said. 'We're still in the process of investigating this murder. Mercedes deserves justice and we're working diligently to make sure that she gets justice.'
If that's the case, Vallum could face not only murder charges, but federal hate crime charges. 

At the time of her death, Williamson had apparently become estranged with her family and had moved to nearby Theodore, Alabama, where she was sleeping on the couch of 41-year-old friend Jeanie Miller's trailer since September. 
Miller says the last time she saw Williamson was on May 30, around 2pm, when the teen left to go spend some time at 'the bay' with a friend.

Miller remembers seeing Williamson get into an unknown silver vehicle and then driving off. When Williamson didn't return to the trailer for several days, Miller called the friend who she thought had picked Williamson up and the girl told her that the teen was dead.  

'I couldn't believe it,' Miller told the Sun Herald.  'I don't want to hear. I miss how she flipped her hair. I miss the crooked teeth with that beautiful smile. ... I can smell her. I just keep wanting her to walk through that door. ... I'll never have nobody like her again. That is barely something that crosses people's lives anyway. She is the most beautiful person.' 

While police have not yet revealed how Williamson died, remarks on a Facebook tribute page to the teen say stab wounds were found on her body. 
Williamson, who was born male and named Michael Wilkins by her parents, was an aspiring cosmetologist who friends say also enjoyed spending time outdoors.  Miller said she regarded Williamson 'like a daughter'. 

She became the ninth known transgender woman killed in the U.S. for 2015, according to data from the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. 
Caitlyn Jenner referenced Williamson's death while accepting the Arthur Ashe courage award at this year's ESPYs.  

'All across this country, right now, all across the world, at this very moment, there are young people coming to terms with being transgender. They’re learning that they’re different and they are trying to figure out how to handle that, on top of every other problem that a teenager has.

'They’re getting bullied, they’re getting beaten up, they’re getting murdered and they’re committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it is like to be trans today.

'Just last month, the body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, a transgendered young woman of color, was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death...Every time something like this happens, people wonder, "Could it have been different if spotlighting this issue with more attention could have changed the way things happen?" We’ll never know,' Jenner said. 

Source: UK Daily Mail

32 comments:

Unknown said...

But how do some humans kill their fellow humans and are able to sleep @ night? Nawao!

Unknown said...

Na wa ooo so so sad news 2dyy haba lord tk control fa.

Unknown said...

a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
.
RIP.....
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***

STERN said...

Nothing too serious abeg

Unknown said...

OMG! He should b punished accordingly so dat it wil serve as deterrent to others.

Unknown said...

Seen

Unknown said...

Hmmm! Nawa o

Unknown said...

awon oyinbo yin ya werẹ ju awon apa eniyan naija lo......ogba lori guy yin seriously

Unknown said...

Homo lupus homine! Man being a Wolf to man! Itz a pity!

Unknown said...

wow thats a great one,they dont deserve to live,they are just bunch of pricks!

Bonita Bislam said...

Some people have no qualms taking away life they didn't create.How metallic is their heart?

Unknown said...

E b like say dis transgender shit dey cheap 4 dat way Ooo.... bcos even kids don dey do d rubbish

Unknown said...

May his soul RIP
Too sad

Unknown said...

What a cruel world we live in. God help us all. Linda take note!

Unknown said...

What a cruel world we live in. God help us all. Linda take note!

Unknown said...

What a cruel world we live in. God help us all. Linda take note!

Unknown said...

What a cruel world we live in. God help us all. Linda take note!

Unknown said...

Rest in peace tranny.....

Unknown said...

Speechless

Unknown said...

Speechless

SWILL MARTIN said...

Make caityly tok 4 am naaaau!

Jules said...

May his/her soul RIP

Unknown said...

Sex-change is a deviant social behaviour and an abomination, but I don't support such hate crimes of murdering them. Everybody should have that chance and grace to repent. When you kill them, you've erased every opportunity they have to retrace their steps and seek the face of God

Jasmine Joseph said...

I dnt like d freaks sha, but this dude went too far, who gave him d right to take a life, he better no drop d soap in jail

Unknown said...

Stupid pple

Unknown said...

Indeed the world is ending!!!

Anonymous said...

It is the same way u go to church and from there straight to ur boyfriend house to fuck. And u feel fine and sleep at night thinking of him.

Anonymous said...

Murder is a step away from prejudice. That anyone can be intolerant of another human beings way of life, means that you have absolutely no respect for their existence, so why act surprised when those amongst you actually act upon that hate and intolerance?

Unknown said...

What's all these stabbing and killing everywhere. What has gone into the heads of these people. God we dey your hand ooooooo.

Kaiser said...

Where is that idiot that thinks only Muslim nd Islam is d problem of this world..look what we av here how is he different from that 16yr old boy..humanity is sick and only divine help can save us..but people are just plain wicked these days

TAMARA SPLASH said...

He should b punished

Anonymous said...

Lol ooo

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