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Former Navy Sailor Sentenced to 40 Years for Murdering Trans Woman Dee Whigham

HeadlineJul 25, 2017

In Mississippi, a former Navy sailor has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering 25-year-old African-American transgender woman Dee Whigham in a hotel room in 2016 after he learned she was transgender. The autopsy shows Dwanya Hickerson slashed Whigham’s throat and stabbed her more than 100 times. Hickerson originally faced the possibility of life in prison or even the death penalty, but he received a plea deal, which Whigham’s mother says is a slap in the face. Before her murder, Dee Whigham had just begun her medical career working as a nurse.

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