Minneapolis Man Gets Over 30 Years In Killing Of Trans Person

MINNEAPOLIS — A 25-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for fatally shooting a transgender person after feeling "suspicious" during a sex act.

Damarean Kaylon Bible, 25, was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of Savannah Ryan Williams. Bible was sentenced to 367 months after a Hennepin County jury convicted him in August.

The crime did not fit the legal standard to be charged as a crime of bias, but prosecutors said that doesn’t mean that hate wasn’t a factor in the case.

"Savannah Ryan Williams should still be here with us," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.

"This senseless act of violence against a Native and Cuban transgender woman has left a family without a daughter, a partner without their person, and a community without the vibrant light that Savannah uniquely brought to every room she was in. Savannah deserved safety."

"Savannah Ryan Williams was a beloved member of the trans and Two Spirit community, and she should be alive today," said Minnesota Rep. Leigh Finke. "Her death is a tragedy for her friends and family, and it serves as a reminder of the epidemic of violence against trans and queer people in this country, and in Minnesota."

On Nov. 29 at about 9 a.m., Minneapolis police received a report of a person not breathing in the courtyard on the 3000 block of 4th Avenue South.

At the scene, officers found Williams' body "obviously deceased from a gunshot wound to the head," the criminal complaint states. "Victim had a hooded sweatshirt on, and there was gunshot residue on the hood suggesting the shot was from close range."

After witness interviews and a review of surveillance footage from Lake Street, investigators identified the suspect as a Bible.

Bible was arrested where he lived at 95 South 10th Street, authorities said.

While in jail, Bible called his dad and told him he "just murdered someone," stating that he felt sorry for doing it and knew he wasn't God, but he "had to do it," according to the criminal complaint.

A search of Bible's apartment turned up a 9mm Polymer80 handgun with no serial number and a .22 caliber rifle, police said. When confronted by police with video evidence, Bible admitted to the shooting, the criminal complaint states.

According to authorities, Bible said he walked past Williams sitting in a Lake Street bus shelter. Williams asked if he wanted "p----," Bible said yes, and they walked to the courtyard so Williams could perform a sex act on Bible, according to the criminal complaint.

According to police, Bible said he began to feel "suspicious" while Williams performed the sex act.

"After the sexual act was completed, [Williams] continued to make him suspicious, so he shot her," the criminal complaint states. Bible admitted he shot at Williams' head from inches away, according to police.