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.

top 50 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] 10 points 1 day ago (1 child)

The argument is that the victim is more dangerous, because "they're a man." This is obviously bullshit though. Either the victim was murdered or not. Their gender really shouldn't matter, trans or otherwise. Things are fucked out here.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 12 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    These worthless fucks don't even view trans people AS PEOPLE! That is disgusting!

    It shouldn't matter one whit what gender they are or not--- you cant just fucking murder people in cold blood wtf.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 19 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    Did he kill someone? Then it doesn’t fucking matter what the victim’s gender or plumbing was.

  • source
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • load more comments (3 replies)
    [–] 34 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    So, the law doesn't apply if I don't like something about the victim?

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 13 points 1 day ago

    Well yeah. This is America.

    I'm sure you know about the white>black exception to most acts of violence, and the white>indigenous one. In addition to those, there is a cis>trans exception too. It gets people off for everything including obviously premeditated murder.

    There is a slight difference, in that you can't say the skin color one openly in court as your defense anymore, but the trans one you can still say openly in court. It's called the "trans panic" defense.

    One of the most egregious recent ones I remember was a guy who went to a woman's house and had sex. Sitting at home in post-nut he felt shame. So he got his dad and his brother together, and went back over to her house to murder her.

    His dad and brother watched the parking lot and the door for him. He went inside and murdered the woman with his bare hands, eventually stomping her head into paste with his boot in anger. This obviously took a little while.

    Clearly this was premeditated, cold blooded murder. He thought about it, made a plan, gathered materials and support, used his hands, and took time to see that it was finished. There was no disputing this in court. In fact, I know all these details because he admitted to them in court.

    He also says though, that he had no idea she was trans during the sex, but somehow found out afterwards at home. That one fact was enough to let him go free.

    Stomping a trans woman to death is a justified reaction to her transness in the eyes of the American courts.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 27 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

    Also, this rings of saying its not murder because transgender people aren't people.

    No, it's implicitly saying the murderer was 'right' to kill her because she was 'really a black man.' The jury was 'deceived, by omission, into thinking this was about a woman being murdered.'

    [Single quotes indicate their expressed beliefs, not direct quotes.]

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago

    Not quite but pretty much. The judge originally said no you can't bring up she was trans as part of your defense, which I think was an okayish decision. But then another court found that this information should have been provided to the jury and as such a retrial is needed.

    It does reek on anti trans sentiment masked in procedural bullshit, and I wonder while we're having this conversation it seems like everyone is talking about this guy killing a trans lady because she was trans and wanting that to be his defense, but isn't that just admitting to a hate crime?... I mean I guess that's essentially what you're saying, the court says no no no, this man should be able to use him transphobia as his defense.

    Well, I guess I agree. This country is so fucking stupid and hateful.

  • source
  • parent
  • load more comments (3 replies)
    [–] 32 points 1 day ago

    I hope his dick rots off and he gets accused of being trans in the bathroom.

  • source
  • [–] 18 points 1 day ago

    Fucking evil. May this these people die of kidney stones

  • source
  • [–] 21 points 1 day ago (1 child)
    load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 112 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    trans rights are human rights

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 17 points 1 day ago

    Conservatives will never, ever stop oppressing and killing the normal people on their own. Being polite does not work against conservatism. Showing empathy does not work against conservatism. The law does not work against conservatism. Only physical force works against conservatism.

    Organizing physical resistance is not possible on social media. We must each be willing to act alone, altogether.

    Act independently. Be discrete. Be prolific. Self-defense is not murder.

  • source
  • [–] 73 points 2 days ago (3 children)
  • [–] 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

    I don't agree that a murderer can't say their motivation, but when someone has shot someone else six times and we all know that they did it, just stay in prison. You chose to fill the victim full of lead because you're a dangerous weenie, and you're too dangerous to live with the public.

    You can't have been too scared of them if you were in a long-term relationship, and you're a murderer. Sit in prison and rot.

  • source
  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago

    Well, if people are violently hostile to trans people, I guess trans people need to legally adapt.

    Oh, they can't do that?

    Huh. Weird. Soooo, what to you expect them to do? Just... Be murdered peacefully?

  • source
  • [–] 58 points 2 days ago* (22 children)

    On the one hand a retrial makes sense because not all the facts of the case were presented to the jury.

    On the other hand the prior conviction was manslaughter which is crazy lower for six shots and then just going home. Maybe the jury will see this as not only a hate crime, but also escalate to some form of murder charge.

  • source
  • hideshow 22 child comments
  • [–] 42 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Local LGBTQ+ organizers have said Ward was known as a threat to trans women even before he killed Lee, journalist S. Baum reported for the news blog Erin in the Morning on Thursday. Kayla Gore, executive director of the emergency services nonprofit My Sistah’s House, told Erin in the Morning that Ward had pursued trans women in the past.

    Sounds like some other facts ought to be presented to the jury as well if he’s trying to trans panic his way out of murder.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • load more comments (15 replies)
    [–] 33 points 2 days ago (6 children)

    Wait, wtf? What does that have to do with anything?

  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
  • [–] 23 points 2 days ago* (2 children)

    if I'm being extremely generous their (still very fucked up) argument is that a jury would be more likely to believe there was an imminent threat of harm from a "biological male" than a "biological female". They might even be correct with regards to how the information would impact the views of a Tennessee jury.

    Still completely fucked and demonstrates a huge part of what's wrong with our judicial system. Everything a jury needs to know about whether a person would reasonably feel in imminent danger can be described without ever mentioning sex or gender.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 9 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    threat of harm from a “biological male” than a “biological female”.

    Seems to me basing that on gender is sexism. Absolutely statistically this is true, but the case was presumably based on the individuals in question, not on statistics. The evidence should determine the case not prejudice.

    The trial court’s judge had disallowed the defense from presenting the victim’s identity as a transgender woman in its arguments.

    That's a good call to avoid prejudice.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
  • load more comments (3 replies)
    [–] 11 points 1 day ago

    Voluntary Manslaughter to begin with? For shooting someone not threatening you physically 6 times outside your house?

    It's Tennessee, and it's now in south america, so nobody gives a shit. I mean, we do, but we are nobody, for now.

  • source
  • [–] 10 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    preventing the killer from using the victim's trans identity in his defense.

    What's the most generous way to read this? Like, is there any way to mean something good but just express yourself very very very badly and come up with this?

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 9 points 1 day ago

    The most generous way to interpret it is to say it's restricting his freedom of speech and to make whatever defense he feels is best.

    If transphobia wasn't a huge problem at the moment I might even agree, because it would be leaving him rope to hang himself with. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, in my defense this wasn't just a crime, it was a hate crime." But with such widespread and virulent transphobia I don't trust a Tennessee jury not to nullify or at least have one person block conviction.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

    I support trans women and...

    This was a defendant who knew the victim well. They were in an ongoing sexual relationship. The trial court made it very difficult for the defendant to discuss their relationship or concerns about being hurt during alleged self-defense. And that was defendant's entire legal defense! And he couldn't talk about it! Even if too many trans women are being killed, this is not an unfair or bad appellate ruling.

    Defendants should be able to present defenses to a jury. This is absolutely not transphobia for the court to rule this way. It's entirely possible Defendant chose to not testify because of this ruling. In a self-defense case!

    The ruling: https://www.tncourts.gov/sites/default/files/OpinionsPDFVersion/W2025-01186-CCA-R3-CDOPN.pdf

    According to the ruling:

    At the pretrial hearing on the State’s motion, defense counsel expressed concern that if the trial court excluded evidence of the victim’s biological sex, it would impact Defendant’s ability to present a defense and his right to testify. Defense counsel stated that if Defendant chose to testify, he would be in a position to have to lie to the jury, “either by omission or just a straight-out lie.”

    So defendant was allowed to testify, but couldn't mention that the victim was trans at all. It's not right. Defendants should be able to present their side of things.

    from the actual ruling:

    Logically, courts allow evidence of the physical characteristics of the victim and defendant when evaluating the “reasonableness” and “imminent danger” requirements of a self-defense claim. Here, Defendant argues the “differences in strength and power between a biological man and a woman of the same weight cannot be denied.” In other words, there are physical differences between a biological male who is five-feet-eleven and 262 pounds and a biological female who is five-feet-eleven and 262 pounds. The trial court determined that because the victim was armed, evidence of her biological sex was irrelevant and potentially prejudicial. We disagree.

    While a gun might equalize differences in physical strength and size, there are other inherent physiological differences between the sexes that science continues to reveal and that we choose not to ignore. A detailed discussion is not necessary for our analysis; it suffices to acknowledge that these differences exist. However significant or insignificant these differences are, the Tennessee Rules of Evidence set the threshold test for relevance low: evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to prove a consequential fact. See Tenn. R. Evid. 401, Advisory Comm’n Cmt. (“The theoretical test for admissibility is a lenient one . . .”). We decline to hold that the biological sex of the victim is not relevant to a claim of self-defense.

    Regarding the danger of unfair prejudice, we recognize that societal biases exist. As counsel for Defendant observed at the pretrial hearing, any prejudices the jury might have against the victim for being transgender could very well be applied to Defendant for being in a sexual relationship with the transgender victim. The trial court was concerned that knowledge of the victim’s biological sex might lead to bias and cause the jury to confuse the issues. The danger of bias, however, ran both ways in this case. Defendant expressed his concern that the jury might be less likely to accept his claim of self-defense based on their understanding of the victim as a woman rather than a biological male. Notably, the victim’s friend, Mr. Hunter, testified the victim called him because the victim thought he could provide some level of intimidation as a male. These societal views on the differences between male and female behaviors only strengthen our belief that a person’s biological sex has relevance to certain issues.

  • source
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • load more comments (2 replies)
    [–] 9 points 1 day ago

    Clearly the jury should have the opportunity to victim blame, no? /s

  • source
  • [–] 5 points 1 day ago

    Ordered a retrial.

    Guy could still be found guilty of murder or manslaughter

  • source
  • [–] 28 points 2 days ago (1 child)

    Watch him get a longer sentence anyway lmao

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • load more comments (1 reply)
    [–] 17 points 2 days ago

    “Transgender”, “Tennessee”

    Say no more….

  • source
  • load more comments
    view more: next ›