‘Who would Jesus execute?’: Protesters gather in KC ahead of execution of Amber McLaughlin

Update: Amber McLaughlin died by lethal injection Tuesday evening.

A group of anti-death penalty protesters gathered Tuesday in Kansas City ahead of the execution of Amber McLaughlin at a prison in eastern Missouri.

They held signs reading: Missouri kills in your name. Who would Jesus execute? Say no to the death penalty.

Rallies organized by Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty took place in five cities across the state throughout the day.

McLaughlin, a 49-year-old transgender woman, was convicted of raping and killing her ex-girlfriend Beverly Guenther in 2003 in St. Louis County.

A jury deadlocked on the sentence and a judge handed down the death penalty. Missouri and Indiana are the only states that grant that power to a judge.

“It wasn’t a unanimous jury,” one protester, Terri Butel, said. “In Missouri we allow a judge just to make a decision — that’s not the will of the people.”

McLaughlin requested supporters wear pink. One woman pulled off her gloves to show her bright pink nails. Another, Mary Buren, carried a bouquet of pink flowers and donned a pink scarf.

“We have to stop violence and this is legalized violence,” she said. “No one judge should decide if someone lives or dies.”

More than a dozen people spread across the four corners of East 39th Street and Troost, near St. James Catholic Church. Ann Bode-Rodriguez said she is a member of the parish and that her God is loving and merciful.

“I think that the death penalty is revenge killing,” she said. “I don’t go for that eye for an eye thing.”

Doug Kinney said he believes capital punishment is against God’s law.

“Gov. (Mike) Parson, being a Christian man, from the Bible belt of Missouri, doesn’t see that,” Kinney said.

Attorneys for McLaughlin submitted a clemency application to Parson’s office three weeks ago, arguing that she suffered abuse as a child, had a borderline intellectual disability and was remorseful.

On Tuesday morning, Parson confirmed the execution would go forward.

“McLaughlin’s conviction and sentence remains after multiple, thorough examinations of Missouri law. McLaughlin stalked, raped, and murdered Ms. Guenther. McLaughlin is a violent criminal,” Parson said in a statement. “Ms. Guenther’s family and loved ones deserve peace. The State of Missouri will carry out McLaughlin’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice.”