 person to be killed in the United States on Tuesday was 

a female prisoner inmate from Missouri who died by lethal injection. 

When Missouri Governor Mike Parson rejected a clemency request earlier on Tuesday, Amber McLaughlin's destiny was already decided. 

As the pentobarbital dose that would cause her death was administered, McLaughlin whispered softly to a spiritual advisor by her side.

Amber Mclaughlin before and after the transition

McLaughlin took several deep breaths before closing her eyes. She was declared deceased a short while afterwards.

In a last written statement, McLaughlin expressed his regret for what she had done. 

"I consider myself to be loving and caring"

McLaughlin, 49, was found guilty of murdering Beverly Guenther, 45, on November 20, 2003. In St. Louis County, Guenther, McLaughlin's ex-girlfriend, was raped and fatally stabbed. 

Since the death penalty was restored in the United States in the 1970s, McLaughlin was one of the few women who had been given a planned execution date. 

50 of the 2,414 individuals scheduled for execution as of April 1, 2022, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, were women. 

The anti-execution Death Penalty Information Center states that it is 

not known of any prior instances in which a person who identified as openly transgender was executed.

There were protests against Amber's execution

After the pair split up, McLaughlin started stalking Guenther at her St. Louis place of business, occasionally hiding inside the premises, according to court documents. Guenther as a result 

Guenther's neighbours reported her missing on November 20, 2003, and when police arrived at the office building they found a 

broken knife handle and a trail of blood close to her car.

 The following day, McLaughlin directed police to the location of Guenther's body's disposal.

Following the presentation of the mental health evidence for McLaughlin, a court ordered a new sentencing hearing in 2016. However, a federal appeals court panel affirmed the death penalty in 2021. 

Along with Indiana, Missouri is one of just two states

 that permits a judge, instead of a jury, to impose a death sentence.

McLaughlin's counsel asked Parson for clemency on December 12 and 

asked that a life sentence without the possibility of parole be substituted for a death sentence. 

The petition for clemency lists the chronic trauma McLaughlin endured as a child, including 

brain damage from foetal alcohol exposure, traumatic brain injuries as a child, the abuse she experienced at her adoptive home, including being tased and beaten, as well as her diagnosed depression and suicide attempts.

The petition claimed that McLaughlin's initial trial in 2006 did not include information on her mental health or childhood maltreatment.

1st transgender person executed in the U.S

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