A transgender killer smirked at her victim’s relatives and refused to apologize because her gender identity made her ‘vulnerable’, as she was sentenced to 22 years behind bars.
In April 2023, during a mental health crisis following a night of partying in Portland, 30-year-old Moses Jacob Lopez fatally stabbed cab driver Reese McDowell Lawhon using bladed brass knuckles.
Lawhon had picked her up after a 911 operator suggested she call a cab home. Lopez senselessly stabbed him in the chest without provocation.
At her sentencing on Wednesday, Lopez callously justified the murder by blaming a lack of mental health support and a system she saw as failing her.
‘I refuse to apologize for the lack of help I so desperately needed and called and asked for from 911 services,’ Lopez said, reports The Oregonian.
The article stated that she expressed feeling “targeted” and vulnerable to attack due to her gender identity.
Lopez was initially charged with murdering Lawhon, but later accepted a plea deal that will see her serve only 22-years in prison for manslaughter.
Her victim’s family reacted with outrage at the reduced charges, telling Lopez at her sentencing that she will ‘always be a monster.’
The comment that elicited a smirk from the killer led to criticism, with a representative from Lawhon’s previous employer, Radio Cabs, condemning her conduct in court as ‘shameful.’
On the night of Lawhon killing, Lopez had been out partying in downtown Portland, but suffered a mental health breakdown and called 911 for a ride home.
The 911 operator instead suggested she call a cab and pay for a ride home.
After calling Radio Cab, static on the taxi dispatcher’s line led them to enter the wrong address.
‘I ended up in a very scary part of town where I was genuinely afraid,’ Lopez said at her sentencing, claiming her gender identity leaves her often feeling targeted.
Surveillance footage from inside the cab showed the trip was almost entirely silent, until Lawhon realized the mistake and tried to turn around under a highway overpass.
At that moment, Lopez lunged forward and stabbed Lawhon in the neck ‘completely out of the blue’, detectives said.
Law enforcement responded to the location just before 7 pm following reports from drivers about a taxi halted amidst traffic. Upon arrival, officers discovered the driver unconscious, leaning forward on the steering wheel.
He had been stabbed in the neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez was swiftly captured by police in the vicinity, and medical personnel reported observing her leaving the taxi with blood on her, and releasing a set of brass knuckles with an attached blade onto the ground.
After her arrest, Lopez said she was having a mental health crisis and that was the reason for calling 911 for help – a narrative she stuck to at her sentencing as she refused to apologize.
However, those that knew Lawhon said he was a ‘kind soul’, and would have certainly helped her if she had told him she was struggling.
