Transgender child killer freed from US prison 30 years early

Peter Stevens
Tue, 14 Apr 2026 01:09:31 +0000

A transgender child killer has been released from a US prison 30 years early, according to reports.

Autumn Cordellioné, was sentenced to 55 years in prison in 2002 for the murder of 11-month-old Faith Lee after strangling the infant.

She was released back to her hometown of Evansville, Indiana, last December on parole, but prosecutors only learned of her release after a tip off from a member of the public.

Cordellioné was recognised by someone who was familiar with the 2002 trial and subsequently alerted authorities, according to Vanderburgh County prosecutor Diana Moers.

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Mrs Moers said her office received no notice that Cordellioné had been paroled.

In a statement on social media, Cordellioné said: "I did my time, and it was hell. I made mistakes as a kid at 18 years old, I will never forgive myself for that, there is no excuse for what happened, and I would have made different decisions if I could change the past... I still say I'm innocent; I didn't murder her.

"But, you people will keep judging me and condemning me, because it makes you feel good."

Cordellioné was diagnosed with gender dysphoria in 2020, changed names from Jonathan Richardson to Autumn Cordellioné, and ceased identifying as male.

In 2023, the child killer filed a civil rights lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which challenged the Indiana Department of Corrections's (IDOC) ban on inmates receiving gender-affirming surgery.

The court issued a preliminary injunction, extended in March 2025, ordering the IDOC to "take all reasonable actions" to grant Cordellioné surgery.

At the time, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said: "Convicted murderers don’t get to demand that taxpayers foot the bill for expensive and controversial sex-change operations. It lacks all common sense.

"We won't stop defending our state's ban on using taxpayer funds to provide sex-change surgeries to prisoners."

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And last year, Cordellioné filed a $3.5million lawsuit against President Donald Trump for his "transphobic hate speech" which the felon claimed fueled violent sexual assaults while serving time at Westville Correctional Facility in Westville, Indiana.

In 2024, Cordellioné launched legal action against an Indiana prison chaplain for allegedly being denied the right to wear a hijab.

The chaplain initially denied the request because Cordellioné's religion was listed as "Wiccan".

But the child killer claimed to identify as a transgender Muslim woman who practiced their faith "eclectically".

The transgender murderer's release came less than three weeks after Governor Mike Braun signed House Bill 1250 into law, which requires the IDOC to notify local authorities at least a week before a serious violent felon is freed.

The reforms will come into effect on July 1, before the time of Cordellioné's release.

Representative Tim O'Brien, serving in the Indiana House, authored the legislation and said: "When a violent offender is released from prison, the safety of victims and the community must be the top priority."

It is unclear when Cordellioné was set free, but the earliest possible release date was listed as December 29, 2025.