McDonald imprisoned in male facility

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McDonald imprisoned in male facility

Updated: June 19, 2012 - 7:20 AM

Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald

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Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald, whose manslaughter conviction in the slaying of a man during a scuffle outside a south Minneapolis bar stirred outrage within the transgender community, will serve a 3 1/2-year sentence in a prison for men, according to the Department of Corrections.

DOC spokeswoman Sarah Russell said Monday that officials decided that McDonald, 24, who is a man transitioning to a woman, will be placed in an adult male facility, although the final destination has not been determined.

McDonald was sentenced June 4 in Hennepin County District Court after agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Dean Schmitz, 47. Since then McDonald has been housed as a man at the St. Cloud prison.

McDonald was charged with second-degree murder after the melee last summer outside the Schooner Tavern. It began with an argument that started when Schmitz's group taunted McDonald's companions, who were black, with racist and homophobic slurs.

A woman smashed a glass in McDonald's face, leaving a cut that required 11 stitches. McDonald then stabbed Schmitz in the chest with a pair of scissors or a knife. He died at the scene.

While at the Hennepin County jail, McDonald was taking hormone treatments and requested that they would continue during the prison sentence.

As of late January, there were 10 inmates in the state's corrections system who have been clinically confirmed by the state as being transgender.

ABBY SIMONS AND PAUL WALSH