A sailor has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a transgender nurse, who was stabbed 119 times.

25-year-old Dee Whigham died on July 23, when she was stabbed to death in a Jackson County, Mississippi hotel.

Ms Whigam worked as a registered nurse at Forrest General Hospital.

Navy seaman, Dwanya Hickerson was charged with the killing after CCTV showed him and Whigham walking into a hotel room together prior to her murder.

Appearing in court this week, he entered a not guilty plea to the murder cjarhe.

Deputy Leo Allen of Jackson County Sheriff’s Department previously revealed the horrific details of the case.

The Deputy recalled that the autopsy showed Ms Whigham was stabbed 119 times, with the majority of the stab wounds to her face. Her throat was slashed three times.

Hickerson, 20, a soldier stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, was arrested two days after the killing, and denies a charge of capital murder.

According to the Sheriff’s office, investigators recovered a bloody shirt from the military base, which has been sent for testing.

A “10-inch, fixed blade Gerber knife” was also recovered from a nearby beach, though some items belonging to Whigham have not been recovered.

The trial continues.