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2nd man gets life term for killing of Iowa gender-fluid teen

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November 19th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has sentenced a second man to life in prison for the 2016 killing of a gender-fluid Iowa teenager. The Des Moines Register reports a judge Monday sentenced 26-year-old Jaron Purham to life in prison, which was mandatory because of his October conviction of first-degree murder.

Another man, Jorge Sanders-Galvez, already is serving a life term for the March 2, 2016, fatal shooting of 16-year-old Kedarie Johnson of Burlington. Johnson’s relatives say he identified as both male and female.

Prosecutors said Sanders-Galvez and Purham saw Johnson at a store and followed him in their car before taking the teen to a Burlington home. Police say Johnson was sexually assaulted and tortured before being shot to death in an alley.