Plot Synopsis

LOVE & HATE CRIME is a series of one-hour specials that take an intimate look at the dangers facing those who are singled out in America as racial tensions continue to increase and minorities are being blatantly targeted. This poignant and timely series explores how quickly love can turn to hate, and how some of America's most heartbreaking murders are fueled by passion and fear of the unknown. Delving into the complex issues of gender, race, sexuality and mental health, LOVE & HATE CRIME reveals how the actions of a few can inflame passions and expose prejudice. Investigation Discovery plans three specials during 2018.

In the first installment of the series -- scheduled to premiere on Sunday, February 25, 2018 at 8pm ET/PT -- director Ben Steele sets the stage in Mississippi to follow the story of Mercedes Williamson, a transgender 17-year-old teen who was violently murdered by her gang member boyfriend, Josh Vallum, 29. Vallum, while in the throws of passion, suddenly discovers that his girlfriend is trans and he loses control and gruesomely kills her. As details of the relationship unfold, Vallum defends himself using the classic "gay/trans panic" defense while his membership in a notorious gang, The Latin Kings, emerges as a possible motivation in this crime of passion. In May 2017 Josh's conviction became the first-ever conviction of a federal hate crime charge arising from the murder of a transgender woman.

On Saturday, October 13, 2018 at 10pm ET/PT, Investigation Discovery premiered "Murder in Mississippi," the second episode of LOVE & HATE CRIME. The documentary takes a revealing look at the murder of James 'Craig' Anderson, who was targeted simply because of the color of his skin by a group of white teens. In June, 2011, a group of young white teens from Rankin County, Mississippi decided to head over to nearby Jackson to intentionally assault someone in the majority black population of the city, which they dubbed "Jafrica." Anderson became the group's unsuspecting target when he was attacked and fatally struck with their car. While the driver, Deryl Dedmon, was initially charged and convicted of murder, the passengers in the vehicle were released. Through the work of the Southern Poverty Law Center, it was discovered that this was not an isolated event, but a pattern of racially-motivated lashing out from a white suburban community. Viewed as a modern day lynching, the case was turned over to the FBI which successfully prosecuted nine additional teenagers for the first time under federal hate crime laws. Through interviews with Anderson's loved ones, officials involved in the case and family members of one of the convicted passengers, the documentary explores how racism continues to be bolstered in pockets of the South, prompting the question: can such a deeply rooted culture change? Or are we as a nation held hostage to past biases? Culminating in an intense and emotional final reckoning, the ruling judge in the case against one of the passengers sits down with the convicted teen's family, asking them to reflect on their existing perceptions and prejudices.
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Investigation Discovery premiered the second season of LOVE & HATE CRIME, debuting three back-to-back episodes from 8-11pm ET/PT on Friday, December 13, 2019:

"Evidence of Prejudice" (8pm): In Florida, a young American is accused of the brutal race hate killing of a teenage Hispanic immigrant. What will the jury decide? Will the young American walk, or will he spend the rest of his life behind bars?

"Killing in the Classroom" (9pm): Teenager Abel Cedeno takes a knife to his New York high school "for protection." Within hours one of his classmates is dead. The story causes a sensation in the press and divides the City, pitting the Black community against the Gay community.

"God Is His Witness" (10pm): A father denies a series of "honor killings" linked to his daughter, but secrets from his past might tell a different story. It was one of the largest police investigations in the history of Texas portrayed as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet story.