A Mississippi man was sentenced to 40 years in prison after stabbing a woman 119 times after he learned on a date that she was transgender.
On Thursday, the man, 21-year-old Dwanya Hickerson, pleaded guilty to the murder of Dee Whigham. In addition to the sentence for murder, he will serve 15 years in prison for a robbery charge. He took a plea deal in order to avoid facing the death penalty over the capital murder charge.
Whigham’s mother, Vickie Blackney Whigham, blasted the plea deal, saying, “I think the plea is a slap in the face. He gets a chance to see his family and I don’t have that chance with my child.”
According to Hickerson’s testimony in court, he and Whigham had spoken online for months before deciding to meet up in person on July 23. The two met up at a hotel room, and after having some form of sex, Whigham told Hickerson that she was transgender, at which point, he said, “I lost it.”
According to autopsy results, Whigham was stabbed 119 times, with most of the wounds being on her face. Her throat was also slashed three times.
WLOX-TV reported Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Leo Allen saying that Whigham and Hickerson were seen entering the hotel room together, and Hickerson was seen exiting the room 23 minutes later with his shirt around his neck, after having taken a shower.
