Hate crime sentence is victory for LGBT advocates

It’s a big victory for LGBT advocates on the Coast: the sentence the Mississippi man received for the first-ever conviction of federal hate crime charges for the killing of a transgender woman. A federal judge sentenced Joshua Vallum to 49 years in prison Monday after Vallum acknowledged guilt in the 2015 death of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson.
Vallum had previously been sentenced to life without parole on state murder charges and was a member of the Latin Kings Gang. Prosecutors say he killed Williamson to keep fellow gang members from discovering they had been having a sexual relationship, which allegedly violated gang rules.
A local LGBT advocate tells News 25 the result of Vallum’s trial is a big triumph across the country for the transgender community and its supporters. Mississippi Rainbow Center President Molly Kester said, “When other cases come up they can look toward this one. For one thing, if we can do it in Mississippi, we should be able to do it anywhere. It’s good for the community. It’s good for transgender people. I feel like we’re a little bit more recognized, we’re not so invisible anymore, that they do realize we do exist and we do have rights.”
Kester says prosecutors and law enforcement treated the case like a hate crime from the beginning. She tells News 25 she’s thankful justice took one step further in the trial’s outcome.