Missouri: First trans woman executed in the US

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Protests against the execution of Amber M. on Tuesday in the Missouri Supreme Court

Photo: David A. Lieb / dpa

A trans woman has been executed in the United States for the first time.

She was killed on Tuesday evening (local time) in the US state of Missouri with lethal injection, as reported by CNN and other US media, citing a statement from the law enforcement agency.

Amber M. was convicted of murdering and raping her former partner in 2006.

According to the non-profit organization Death Penalty Information Center, she is the first known transgender person to be executed in the United States.

M., who had been convicted under her former male name, had completed her transition while in prison and was held in a male prison to the end.

Governor refused pardon

The 49-year-old had exhausted all legal remedies against the verdict.

Her lawyer had tried in vain until the last minute to persuade the governor of Missouri, Republican Mike Parsons, to pardon her.

Parsons declined a pardon Tuesday.

The use of the death penalty in the United States has repeatedly been the subject of fierce criticism and disputes.

A majority of Americans still support the death penalty.

However, approval has declined.

About six in 10 Americans identify themselves as supporters, according to the General Social Survey, a major trend poll conducted by the University of Chicago.

In the 1990s, nearly three-quarters of Americans were for it.

More than 1,500 executions since 1976

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 37 of the 50 states have abolished the death penalty or have not used it for more than ten years.

Many manufacturers of the drugs used in the lethal injections now refuse to sell their products to states that still use the death penalty.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, more than 1,500 people have been executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

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