| Advertisement |
Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The state of Missouri is on track to carry out the execution of a transgender inmate on Tuesday in what would be the first known such instance in U.S. history. Amber McLaughlin is scheduled to die by lethal injection at a state prison in Bonne Terre, Mo., making make her the first openly transgender woman executed in the United States.
Advertisement
McLaughlin's lawyers confirmed Monday there are no further legal appeals pending before the courts. The 49-year-old's final hope now rests with Missouri's Republican governor, Mike Parson.
McLaughlin, who went by the name Scott at the time, was convicted of killing her 45-year-old ex-girlfriend Beverly Guenther on Nov. 20, 2003.
Lawyers last month appealed to Parson to commute McLaughlin's death sentence to life in prison.
A letter to Parson from U.S. Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver, both Missouri Democrats, outlined a history of McLaughlin's traumatic childhood and mental health issues.
"Ms. McLaughlin's cruel execution would mark the state's first use of the death penalty on a woman since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, and even worse it would not solve any of the systemic problems facing Missourians and people all across America, including anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence, and cycles of violence that target and harm women," the letter reads.
Court records show McLaughlin experienced horrific abuse and neglect at the hands of various caregivers.
A District Court Judge vacated the death sentence in 2016, ruling a jury did not properly weigh aggravating factors. The jury was deadlocked during the penalty phase of the trial, leaving the decision up to the trial judge.
The 8th U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated the death sentence last year.
Parson has not publicly commented on the case. A former sheriff, he has declined to grant clemency to the five men executed since becoming governor in 2018.
An online petition urging Parson to stop the execution had collected over 4,900 signatures by Monday afternoon.
