Mississippi prosecutors are seeking evidence that might prove a transgender Alabama teenager was beaten to death because the suspect in her death feared punishment from fellow gang members for engaging in homosexual activity.

The Biloxi Sun Herald today reported District Attorney Tony Lawrence has issued subpoenas for members of the Latin Kings and wants to photograph suspect Josh Vallum's gang tattoos.

Vallum, according to the article, admitted "he used a hammer to beat to death 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson while the two were in Vallum's car on his father's property....

"Vallum's friends in Alabama told the Sun Herald Vallum knew Williamson was a young transgender teen and she even considered him a boyfriend at one time."

The report continued:

"Other evidence sought by prosecutors is the history of the gang, its bylaws, the gang's structure, the membership list, the culture of the gang, the discipline of the gang and the rules of discipline along with any positions in the Latin Kings and its laws prohibiting homosexual activity as well as financial documentation and other gang-related material. Prosecutors also said in court documents they want gang members to acknowledge whether they knew of Vallum's homosexual activity and if there was punishment for his alleged acts."

Williamson's death was nationally recognized by Caitlyn Jenner at last year's ESPY Awards.

"They're getting bullied, they're getting beaten up, they're getting murdered and they're committing suicide. The numbers that you just heard before are staggering, but they are the reality of what it is like to be trans today... Just last month, the body of 17-year-old Mercedes Williamson, a transgender young woman of color, was found in a field in Mississippi stabbed to death," she said.

Early reports said that the teen was stabbed, but police now know that she was beaten.