Amber McLaughlin, a 49-year-old inmate, was executed on Tuesday for the killing of a former girlfriend in 2003. McLaughlin, who began transitioning while in state prison in Potosi, Missouri, was reportedly the first openly transgender person to be executed in the United States. The Republican Governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, declined a clemency request, sealing McLaughlin's fate. McLaughlin apologized for her actions in a final statement, stating that she was a loving and caring person.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports that since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the mid-1970s, 1,558 individuals have been executed in the United States, with only 17 of those being women. There have been no known previous cases of an openly transgender inmate being executed.
McLaughlin's clemency petition mentioned her traumatic childhood, mental health issues, and gender dysphoria diagnosis, but her lawyer emphasized that her sexual identity was not the main focus of the request. McLaughlin was in a relationship with Beverly Guenther in 2003 and had begun stalking her after their break-up. Guenther had obtained a restraining order against McLaughlin, and police occasionally escorted her to her car after work. When Guenther failed to return home one night, police found a broken knife handle and a trail of blood near her car. McLaughlin later led police to the body, and was sentenced to death in 2006 after being convicted of first-degree murder.