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 that Williamson was transgender, secret from his family, friends, and other members of the Latin Kings and Queens Nation gang to which he belonged. "During his plea hearing, Vallum admitted that he had a consensual sexual relationship with Williamson and that he knew Williamson was transgender. Here is how the Justice Department lays out Vallum's crime: Pleaded guilty to murder last July in a case brought by the state of Mississippi.īuzzFeed News reports the state does not have its own hate crimes law on the books. Vallum is already serving a life sentence for the same incident, having "heeded a lesser sentence suggested in a plea agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors, citing Vallum's neglected childhood and other issues," He faced a sentence of up to life in prison, though U.S. 14, 2016, Vallum pleaded guilty just one week later. Hate Crimes Prevention Act - a law that wasĮxpanded in 2009 to cover victims attacked because of their gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.Ĭharged on Dec. The Justice Department says it's the first case "involving a victim targeted because of gender identity" prosecuted under the "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," Christopher Freeze, special agent in charge of the FBI's Jackson Division, Vallum had pleaded guilty last year to the 2015 assault and murder of Mercedes Williamson, a 17-year-old transgender girl whom he says he once dated. A federal court in Mississippi handed down a 49-year prison sentence on Monday to Joshua Brandon Vallum, the first person prosecuted under the Hate Crimes Prevention Act for targeting a victim because of gender identity.
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