ST. LOUIS — At the start of the new year, Missouri is set to execute an openly transgender death row inmate for the first time.
At 6 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2023, Amber McLaughlin is scheduled to die by lethal injection for a crime she committed 19 years ago.
According to the Anti-Execution Death Penalty Information Center, there is no known case of an openly transgender inmate being executed in the US before.
The crime
5 On Your Side searched through our archives, learning what happened on Nov. 20, 2003.
The victim's neighbor said Beverly Guenther was in fear of her ex-partner for months.
According to the neighbor, we learned a police officer was walking Guenther from work to her car for a week.
But, the one time she stopped asking for an escort, the murder happened.
Guenther was about to file another order of protection against McLaughlin the very next day when she was abducted from her job in Earth City.
Her body was then found in south St. Louis.
Guenther was raped and stabbed to death.
The conviction
Amber McLaughlin was charged with first-degree murder, rape and aggravated assault.
One of Amber McLaughlin's attorneys, Laurence Komp, said while the jury convicted McLaughlin of the crime, they were deadlocked on a death sentence.
That's when a St. Louis County judge set the ruling for the death sentence.
Missouri is one of two states across the country that allows a judge to do this.
Missouri's NAACP President, Nimrod Chapel, shared, "They did not give the death penalty to Amber and so that being done by a judge, we think is fundamentally unfair. Whether or not you believe in the death penalty, I do think we can all agree that we have to follow the rules and there shouldn't be loopholes that allow for a person to be executed, when a jury doesn't think that that's the right thing to do."
Komp also said certain evidence wasn't presented to the jury.
Komp shared, the jury never got mental health evidence from an expert.
"It's not an excuse but an explanation. If they had presented that mental health evidence, it wouldn't have been deadlocked. It would have been a life sentence," he said.
He noted the abuse and rough childhood McLaughlin faced. It's all included in the clemency petition.
Komp said these two big reasons were why they filed clemency to Governor Mike Parson.
Clemency petition and legal proceedings
Amber McLaughlin's life is in the hands of Missouri Governor Mike Parson.
On Friday, Komp said all legal proceedings are done.
"You are out of court. Those are five horrible words that no defense attorney wants to hear in a capital case," Komp said.
Komp explained, their stay of execution request was denied by the Missouri Supreme Court and now, they can't turn to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"We presented the arguments to the Missouri Supreme Court. They were based on an expansion of state law so there wasn't a federal principle underneath it. We couldn't in good faith file something with the US Supreme Court knowing that there wasn't a federal basis to make the request. The ball is in the Governor's court right now. It's all coming down to clemency," he said.
McLaughlin would be the first openly transgender woman killed by the state.
Unless Governor Parson grants that clemency.
Michelle Smith with Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty told 5 On Your Side, "We're kind of on pins and needles right now waiting to see what the Governor's final statement will be."
The governor's decision is still unknown.
5 On Your Side reached out on Friday for a response from Governor Parson's office.
His office sent the same statement as the one they shared a week prior:
"As with all clemency decisions, clemency applications are submitted to the Parole Board for review and recommendation. The materials are then sent from the Parole Board to the Governor’s Legal Team who conduct an extensive review and meet with the Governor on the matter. The Governor then considers the matter and makes a decision when he is prepared to do so. These are not decisions that the Governor takes lightly, and the process is underway as it relates to the execution scheduled for January."
In the meantime, Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty send love to the victim's family and to McLaughlin.
Smith said, "Our hearts go out to every victim's family. Our compassion and our empathy definitely go out to the family. We just understand that taking another life is not going to solve anything."
Several advocates have asked for clemency from Governor Parson.
Democrats Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05) both sent this letter:
On Dec. 26, the head of the Missouri State Public Defender system also sent a letter in support of clemency.
On Dec. 22, Missouri bishops including Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski with the Archdiocese of St. Louis shared the letter to the Governor.
On Dec. 15, Chief Justice Michael A. Wolff and retired judges submitted this letter to Governor Parson’s Deputy General Counsel expressing their support for a commutation of Amber McLaughlin’s death sentence based on the jury deadlock issue.