Missouri inmate executed for 2003 murder; believed to be first transgender woman executed in US

BONNE TERRE, Mo. — A Missouri inmate who was convicted of murdering an ex-girlfriend in 2003 has been executed. It is the first execution in 2023 and is believed to be the first transgender woman to be executed in the United States.

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Amber McLaughlin, 49, was executed Tuesday night. She was convicted of murdering an ex-girlfriend in St. Louis, Missouri, according to The Associated Press. The execution reportedly came hours after Republican Gov. Mike Parson had declined a clemency request.

McLaughlin was injected with pentobarbital, according to the AP. She breathed heavily a few times, closed her eyes, and then was pronounced dead minutes later.

According to the AP, there are about 1,600 death row inmates who have been executed in the U.S. since 1977. However, McLaughlin’s execution is believed to be the first openly transgender woman to be executed.

The only woman ever executed in Missouri was Bonnie B. Heady who was executed on Dec. 18, 1953, for kidnapping and murdering a 6-year-old boy, according to the AP. Heady was reportedly executed in a gas chamber with Carl Austin Hall. Hall was another kidnapper and murderer.

In 2003, McLaughlin was in a relationship with Beverly Guenther. According to the AP, this was before McLaughlin transitioned.

When McLaughlin and Guenther stopped dating, McLaughlin reportedly would show up at her workplace and often times hide inside, according to court records obtained by the AP. Guenther got a restraining order and police would come to escort her to her car after work.

On Nov. 20, 2003, Guenther’s neighbors called the police when she did not come home, according to the AP. Officers went to the office building and found a broken knife handle by Guenther’s car along with a blood trail.

The next day, McLaughlin reportedly led police by the Mississippi River in St. Louis where Guenther’s body was dumped, according to the AP.

McLaughlin was convicted of first-degree murder in 2006. According to the AP, McLaughlin was sentenced to death by a judge following a jury deadlock. McLaughlin’s attorney, Larry Komp told the AP that Missouri and Indiana are the only states where a judge is allowed to sentence someone to death other than a jury.

A new sentencing hearing was ordered in 2016 but a federal court panel reinstated the death penalty in 2021, according to the AP.

McLaughlin reportedly began transitioning about three years ago, according to Jessica Hicklin, 43, a transgender inmate who was released last year after being in prison for 26 years for a drug-related killing. Hicklin sued the Missouri Department of Corrections for challenging a policy that didn’t allow inmates to receive hormone therapy who weren’t receiving it before they were incarcerated, according to the AP. Hicklin won the lawsuit in 2018. She went on to mentor other transgender inmates including McLaughlin.

According to the AP, the Bureau of Justice Statistics said that there are about 3,200 transgender inmates in U.S. prisons and jails.

The next execution in Missouri is expected on Feb. 7, for Leonard Taylor, according to the AP. Taylor is convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three children.

No further information has been released.

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