He declined to speak with The Associated Press in a March letter, citing advice from his lawyers, and didn't address the issue Monday. He said he 'blacked out' and doesn't remember the crime, a variation of what's known as a 'gay panic' or 'trans panic' defense.

Vallum initially told sheriff's deputies and later told The Sun Herald newspaper that he found out that Williamson had a penis on moments before he killed her. Vallum can't go back and undo what he did to Mercedes,' Allred said. 'It's difficult to image how a mother could lock a 2- or 3-year-old child in a room for house on end while adults did drugs.'Īllred said Vallum first tried to kill himself when he was 7 or 8. Vallum lived through a childhood that was characterized by abandonment and neglect,' said public defender Ellen Allred. Public defenders submitted a sealed brief Monday to Guirola outlining Vallum's troubles. When Williamson tried to run, they said, Vallum chased her and bashed her head with a hammer. They added he shocked her with a stun gun and stabbed her with a pocketknife.

Vallum lured Williamson into a car in Alabama and drove her 50 miles to his family home near Lucedale, Miss., prosecutors said. 'These actions invite increased discrimination and continued animus against transgender people,' Gordon said.įederal prosecutor Julia Gegenheimer had said at Vallum's plea hearing in December that he began planning to kill Williamson after a friend called him in May 2015 to say he'd discovered Williamson's identity. She cited the Trump administration's reversal of guidelines that transgender students nationwide should be able to use school bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity - among other steps. Gordon said her group remains concerned how Trump policies will affect transgender people.

Joshua vallum