Remembering Our Dead

TDoR 2015 / 2014 / October / 11 / Jennifer Laude

Jennifer Laude

Age 27

11 Oct 2014
Olongapo City (Philippines)
Asphixiated

TDoR list ref: tgeu/11-Oct-2014/Jennifer Laude

Jennifer was choked and eventually died of asphyxiation by drowning. Her death became a news sensation because the alleged suspect was a US Marine who was participating in a regular military exercise under the Visiting Forces Agreement.

US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison.

A US Marine was found guilty of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines on Tuesday and sentenced to six to 12 years in prison, closing a case that has reignited debate about the American military’s presence in its former colony.

The Olongapo City regional trial court also ordered Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton to pay more than 4.5 million pesos ($95,350) to the family of Jennifer Laude, who was found dead last year in a hotel outside a former US navy base northwest of Manila. Pemberton had been charged with murder, but was convicted of the lesser offense of homicide, which does not require malicious intent.

In 2018 the documentary "Call Her Ganda" was released about her case.

In early September 2020, Pemberton was pardoned by Duterte, the Philippine President. He was deported back to the United States in August 2022.

On Monday, just days after a Filipina court stunned the world by ordering the early release of former U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton, President Duterte pardoned the convicted killer of transgender woman Jennifer Laude.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Embassy did not immediately respond to questions by the Washington Post on whether the pardon had been requested by the U.S. government.

Opinion: This outrageous injustice was undoubtedly facilitated by loser Trump hoping to pander to his right-wing trans hating extremist base during the election year.

Following his partying on board his ship the smirking criminal proudly displayed his arrogance in the 2014 mug shot further enraging the LGBT worldwide community. We wanted to believe time would wipe that smirk off his face, but we were wrong.

We will never forgive Duterte for pardoning his fellow murderer Pemberton.

This is a direct attack not just to Jennifer & her family but to every trans person & every victim of our corrupt & unequal “justice” system.#KeepPembertonInJail #JusticeForJenniferLaude #OustDuterte pic.twitter.com/qmHv0MNSXM
— UP Babaylan #SOGIEEqualityNow (@upbabaylan) September 7, 2020