A Tennessee court has overturned the conviction of a man who killed a Black transgender woman, ruling that a lower court “erred” by preventing the killer from using the victim’s trans identity in his defense.
Samuel Ward Jr. shot Paris Lee six times outside her Memphis home in June 2022, according to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. He then drove 30 minutes home, leaving her to die. Ward was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in May 2025.
But the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals in Jackson overturned that conviction on Monday and ordered a retrial. The trial court’s judge had disallowed the defense from presenting the victim’s identity as a transgender woman in its arguments.
“The trial court erred by excluding evidence of the victim’s assigned sex at birth, [and] the evidence was insufficient to support [Ward’s] conviction,” reads the Monday appellate court decision. “Because we conclude that the trial court erred… we reverse and remand this case for a new trial.”
The defense had argued it would be more reasonable for Ward to fear Lee if jurors knew she was assigned male at birth, and said jurors would be more prejudiced against Ward for killing a cisgender woman, according to Jamie Satterfield, an independent journalist who first reported the ruling.
The gay panic defenses has not gone away. Also, this rings of saying its not murder because transgender people aren’t people.
Am lawyer.
We have basically three murders:
An intentional killing with Malice aforethought or premeditation as you put it.
An intentional killing in the Heat of passion lacking the premeditation.
An unintentional killing, manslaughter.
In Tennessee the middle on is called intentional manslaughter and that’s the one at play.
There are certainly cases where the jury has concluded at some point between bullet one and bukket six you formed the premeditation required.
Person brought a gun outside of their property. Premeditated murder. Done. I’ve owned guns for 19 years. If I bring a gun off my property it was premeditated. If I shoot someone it was intentional.
Whether or not I was passionate about pulling the trigger or not, it was thought about ahead of time and deliberate.
Anyone who has shot guns should know it isn’t a hiccup to pull out a gun, ensure it is cocked, safety off, aim and hit a target… Let alone 6 times. This person deliberately and intentionally used a deadly weapon to assault someone.
That’s you. Some people keep guns with them at all times for safety or because they just like guns. If you read the actual ruling, you’ll see Defendant didn’t even get a chance to testify honestly from their perspective when they were trying to put on a self-defense theory. That’s actually unfair, even if you like trans women and support trans women.
I get your point, and IANAL, but this is just not the case in the US, and it is unconstitutional for a government to make that argument. For better or worse you have the right to carry a gun on your person off your property, and millions of Americans do it every day without intending murder.
The rest of your comment I agree with. Just don’t be muddying the water with a constitutionally protected act being somehow suspicious or against the law.