• ARGUS History
  • Join The ARGUS
  • Advertise With Us
  • ARGUSnewsnow
  • Contact
  • ARGUS H.E.A.L
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
  • Login
St. Louis Argus
  • HOME
  • NewsWatch
    • St. Louis City
    • Community
    • Politics
    • Education
    • National
    • World
  • A Closer Look
    • Opinion
  • Events
  • the vibe
    • Art & Entertainment
    • Beauty, Wellness and Fashion
    • Books
    • Education
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • Harris Stowe
    • Food
    • Health
    • HBCUs
    • Sports
      • Black College Sports
      • High School
      • St. Louis Cardinals
  • National
  • E-Editions
  • The Narrative Matters
  • Video
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NewsWatch
    • St. Louis City
    • Community
    • Politics
    • Education
    • National
    • World
  • A Closer Look
    • Opinion
  • Events
  • the vibe
    • Art & Entertainment
    • Beauty, Wellness and Fashion
    • Books
    • Education
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • Harris Stowe
    • Food
    • Health
    • HBCUs
    • Sports
      • Black College Sports
      • High School
      • St. Louis Cardinals
  • National
  • E-Editions
  • The Narrative Matters
  • Video
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
St. Louis Argus
No Result
View All Result

First openly transgender woman set to be executed in the U.S. asks for mercy

Associated Press by Associated Press
December 23, 2022
in Feature, NewsWatch
Home Feature
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare with Email

The first openly transgender woman set to be executed in the U.S. is asking Missouri’s governor for mercy, citing mental health issues.

Lawyers for Amber McLaughlin, now 49, on Monday asked Republican Gov. Mike Parson to spare her.

McLaughlin was convicted of killing 45-year-old Beverly Guenther on Nov. 20, 2003. Guenther was raped and stabbed to death in St. Louis County.

There is no known case of an openly transgender inmate being executed in the U.S. before, according to the anti-execution Death Penalty Information Center.

Amber McLaughlin
Amber McLaughlin.Jeremy S. Weis / Federal Public Defender Office via AP

“It’s wrong when anyone’s executed regardless, but I hope that this is a first that doesn’t occur,” federal public defender Larry Komp said. “Amber has shown great courage in embracing who she is as a transgender woman in spite of the potential for people reacting with hate, so I admire her display of courage.”

McLaughlin’s lawyers cited her traumatic childhood and mental health issues, which the jury never heard, in the clemency petition. A foster parent rubbed feces in her face when she was a toddler and her adoptive father tased her, according to the letter to Parson. She tried to kill herself multiple times, both as a child and as an adult.

Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones said the Governor’s Office is reviewing her request for mercy.

“These are not decisions that the Governor takes lightly,” Jones said in an email.

Komp said McLaughlin’s lawyers are scheduled to meet with Parson on Tuesday.

A judge sentenced McLaughlin to death after a jury was unable to decide on death or life in prison without parole.

A federal judge in St. Louis ordered a new sentencing hearing in 2016, citing concerns about the effectiveness of McLaughlin’s trial lawyers and faulty jury instructions. But in 2021, a federal appeals court panel reinstated the death penalty.

McLaughlin’s lawyers also listed the jury’s indecision and McLaughlin’s remorse as reasons Parson should spare her life.

Missouri has only executed one woman before, state Corrections Department spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said in an email.

McLaughlin’s lawyers said she previously was rooming with another transgender woman but now is living in isolation leading up to her scheduled execution date.

Pojmann said 9% of Missouri’s prison population is female, and all capital punishment inmates are imprisoned at Potosi Correctional Center.

“It is extremely unusual for a woman to commit a capital offense, such as a brutal murder, and even more unusual for a woman to, as was the case with McLaughlin, rape and murder a woman,” Pojmann said.

Missouri executed two men this year. Kevin Johnson, a 37 year old who was convicted of ambushing and killing a St. Louis area police officer he blamed in the death of his younger brother, was put to death last month. Carmen Deck died by injection in May for killing James and Zelma Long during a robbery at their home in De Soto, Missouri, in 1996.

Post Views: 67
Tags: deathexecutiongovernorLGBTQlivesmatterpenaltystaytransexual

Related Posts

National News

House Republicans Unveil Text of $880 Billion Cut to Medicaid

May 13, 2025
NewsWatch

Governor Kehoe Announces Appointments to Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force

May 14, 2025
NewsWatch

Governor Kehoe Reports on Success of Operation Relentless Pursuit One Month After the Anti-Crime Effort Began Operations

May 13, 2025
Politics

The Impact of Wrongful Deportations on U.S. Rights

May 11, 2025
Community

Join Us in Making History at the 2025 Annie Malone May Day Parade!

May 10, 2025
NewsWatch

City Tow Lot Audit Escalates: U.S. Attorney Steps In

May 14, 2025
Next Post

Video: St. Clair County officials recognize East St. Louis Flyers on championship victory

No Result
View All Result

Latest News

OurStory: Black Trailblazers: From Disease Fighters to Revolutionary Leaders

May 14, 2025

OurStory: Freedom House: The Untold Story of America’s First Black Paramedics

May 14, 2025

St. Louis Argus Hosts First Annual Fashion Show at City Hall 

May 14, 2025
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • ARGUS History
  • Join The ARGUS
  • Advertise With Us
  • ARGUSnewsnow
  • Contact
  • ARGUS H.E.A.L

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • NewsWatch
    • St. Louis City
    • Community
    • Politics
    • Education
    • National
    • World
  • A Closer Look
    • Opinion
  • Events
  • the vibe
    • Art & Entertainment
    • Beauty, Wellness and Fashion
    • Books
    • Education
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • Harris Stowe
    • Food
    • Health
    • HBCUs
    • Sports
      • Black College Sports
      • High School
      • St. Louis Cardinals
  • National
  • E-Editions
  • The Narrative Matters
  • Video
  • Contact

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.