The day Josh Vallum killed Mercedes Williamson, he first saw her from the front porch of a friend’s house near Theodore, Alabama. She was walking down Dauphin Island Parkway in blue jean shorts, a pink tube top and pink flip-flops, her long, dirty-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Vallum wasn’t sure it was Williamson, he told me in a jailhouse interview in late July, so he asked his friend, a fellow Latin Kings gang member.
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As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
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