Mother of man who beat trans woman to death blames victim for living in ‘sin’
The mother of Josh Vallum, who brutally murdered Mercedes Williamson with a hammer, has said Williamson was ‘living in sin’.
17-year-old Alabama teenager Mercedes Williamson was beaten to death with a hammer in June 2015.
Her ex-boyfriend Joshua Vallum, now 29, was arrested and charged with the murder, and later admitted targeting her because of her transition.
Alabama.com has reported that Vallum’s mother, Kelly Wilkins, has called both the defendant and the victim’s actions ‘sins’.
“I am a Christian. I believe what God says. His word says it’s a sin to be homosexual. It also says it is a sin to kill,” she said.
Wilkins misgenders Williamson throughout the interview, and denies that Williamson’s transgender identity played a role in the murder.
“Josh is not gay. Ask all the girls he has dated over the years. I’m not more focused on either sin. They are both sin. I am very sorry that boy lost his life. I’m sorry josh killed him. I hope that boy cried out to God for forgiveness before he died and is in heaven now,” she said.
Wilkins defended her son on social media before talking to al.com, saying that he “is not a monster” and that he “blacked out” before murdering the 17-year-old.
She said: “It was a tragedy for that young person to have died. It was also [wrong] the way he lived his life as a female when God created him as a male. This whole thing happened because of both parties involved in sin.” She also claimed he “did not admit the things reported by papers.”
The mother blames a black out for her sons crime.
“He was kissing that boy thinking it was a girl and when he put his hand in their pants and felt a penis he blacked out.”
“He is not gay. He thought the transgender was a female. He had been in a relationship with what he thought was a girl but in the act of making out he found male genitals,” she wrote.
“He blacked out and when he came to that person was dead in his car and he had a hammer in his hand. He panicked. He pulled the body out of his car and left it there. He did not cover it up in any way.”
Vallum faces up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.
