A federal judge in Indiana ordered the state to pay for the sex change operation of an imprisoned murderer who came to identify as transgender while behind bars.

U.S. District Judge Richard Young issued a ruling last week that a 2023 state law barring prisons from carrying out the gender-swapping surgery violated inmate Autumn Cordellioné’s Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment.

Judge Young said Cordellioné has shown that “her gender dysphoria is a serious medical need, and that, despite other treatments Defendant has provided her to treat her gender dysphoria, she requires gender-affirming surgery to prevent a risk of serious bodily and psychological harm.”

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The American Civil Liberties Union argued the case on behalf of Cordellioné, who has been in prison since 2002 for murdering a child.

The Evansville Courier & Press reported that Cordellioné, who used to go by Jonathan Richardson, was found guilty of smothering her 11-month-old stepdaughter.

Five police officers and jail staffers testified during the trial that Cordellioné yelled out “I killed the little f——— b——” while being held in a cell.

A forensic examiner said bruises were found on the child’s body, and prosecutors argued Cordellioné was the only person with the girl hours before her death.

Cordellioné was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Court documents said she could be released as early as December 2027.

The ruling urges Indiana’s Department of Corrections to conduct the surgery at the “earliest opportunity.”

The filing said Cordellioné was diagnosed in 2020 with gender dysphoria — distress felt when someone’s gender expression does not match their gender identity.

The killer has been taking estrogen supplements and testosterone blockers since then. With the order in effect, Cordellioné plans to have her testicles removed and to have an artificial vagina constructed.

The ACLU argued in its lawsuit that Cordellioné has attempted suicide because “she could not stand the fact that her sex at birth fails to match the fact that she is a woman and cannot tolerate her male body.”

“Today marks a significant victory for transgender individuals in Indiana’s prisons,” Ken Falk, the ACLU of Indiana legal director, said in response to the ruling. “Denying evidence-based medical care to incarcerated people simply because they are transgender is unconstitutional.”

In a separate case, Cordellioné is suing a jail chaplain for not allowing the inmate to wear a hijab outside her cell.

Cordellioné identifies as an “Islamic practicing transwoman,” according to the court documents acquired by the Courier & Press.

The chaplain countered by saying Department of Corrections records show Cordellioné previously identified as Wiccan — a pagan religion focused on the worship of nature.