LaTeisha Green's Killer Gets Max

The murderer of Syracuse, New York transwoman Lateisha Green has received the maximum sentence of 25 years.

Dwight DeLee, the defendant in Onondaga County's first hate-crime homicide prosecution, was sentenced this morning to the maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. DeLee, 20, of Gifford St., was convicted last month of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime for fatally shooting Moses Cannon as the victim sat in a car outside a house on Seymour Street Nov. 14. Cannon, 22, has been described by family as a transgender person who went by the name LaTeisha "Teish" Green and often dressed as a woman. DeLee read a statement in court this morning maintaining he is innocent and attacking the media coverage of his case and the jury verdict against him. He offered an apology to the victim's family, but maintained he did not kill anybody. "I'm no monster. I'm a young human being," DeLee said. The victim's mother, Roxanne Green, spoke briefly in court so that DeLee would understand the depth of the family's loss. "He took a very precious life," Green said, adding she hoped DeLee would see the victim's face every time he closes his eyes for the rest of his life.

According to witnesses, DeLee used anti-gay slurs before shooting Green as she sat in a parked car with her brother. DeLee's is the first hate crime conviction involving a transgender person in New York state and only the second in the entire nation.