Man pleads guilty to transgender woman’s murder

Today justice for the family of a transgender woman killed by a Navy sailor last July in Jackson County.
Dwanya Hickerson met Dee Whigham online, they went to a hotel in St. Martin, had sex, and then Hickerson stabbed Whigham and stole her purse. He was sentenced to 40 years for the murder and 15 years for the robbery.
In the courtroom this afternoon was the family of Dee Whigham, who are still devastated, struggling to understand why the 25-year-old was brutally murdered.
Authorities say Whigham was murdered after meeting Hickerson at the Best Western in St. Martin on July 23rd, 2016. Whigham was in town for the Gulf Coast Black Rodeo with her friends, who police say found her body that night.
According to autopsy results, Whigham was stabbed a total of 190 times, showing multiple wounds all over her body and several on her face. At the time of her death, Whigham lived in Hattiesburg where she worked as a nurse.
Hickerson did apologize to Whigham’s family, but as vocalized in the courtroom this afternoon, the family is very much still suffering. One family member said, “I didn’t approve of his lifestyle. I can understand what you’re saying happened. I can understand your anger, but I just, I miss my brother. I miss my brother.
Adrianna Wells with the lead defense council for Hickerson said, “By the result, I just think it was the only fair result we could come to in the case. It was the best that we could do. It was just a very unfortunate situation for everybody and today was just a very sad day.”
Hickerson pled guilty to second degree murder and also admitted to robbing Whigham after stabbing her. Hickerson was a former Navy sailor who worked at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi.