Jury finds Minneapolis man guilty in killing of transgender woman

A Hennepin County jury convicted a Minneapolis man Wednesday of fatally shooting a woman at close range in south Minneapolis last year.

Damarean Kaylon Bible, 25, was found guilty of second-degree murder with intent in connection with the Nov. 29, 2023 death of Savannah Ryan Williams , a 38-year-old transgender woman.

He now faces up to 40 years in prison.

Warning: The following contains graphic details.

The charges

According to the criminal complaint, police responded to the 3000 block of 4th Avenue South around 9 a.m. the morning of the shooting on reports of a person on the ground and not breathing in a courtyard.

When officers arrived, they found Williams dead, with a gunshot wound to the head. She had a hooded sweatshirt on, and the gunshot residue found on the hood suggested the shot was from close range.

Witnesses told officers that they had heard a gunshot near the scene at approximately 5:45 a.m. and had seen a man, now known to be Bible, walking north from the scene along 4th Avenue toward Lake Street.

Surveillance video was recovered from nearby buildings, showing Williams and Bible walking toward the scene at approximately 5 a.m. Bible is then shown leaving the area alone around 5:45 a.m.

Investigators followed Bible on these surveillance videos to his apartment building at 95 South 10th Street., where management confirmed he was a resident.

Bible was arrested at his home, and when given a phone to call his parents in the jail, he was heard telling his dad that he "just murdered someone," and while feeling sorry, he "had to do it."

A search warrant for his apartment resulted in the finding of a 9mm Polymer80 handgun with no serial number and a .22 caliber rifle. They also found the shoes and clothes he wore during the murder.

Bible initially claimed he wasn't the shooter but then confessed after seeing the video evidence. He claims that while walking past a bus shelter in Lake Street, Williams had asked him if he wanted sex, to which he agreed. However, during and after they had sex, he said he felt "suspicious," so he shot her.

In the wake of the shooting, the Queer Legislative Caucus in the Minnesota House of Representatives issued a statement remembering Williams as a "beloved member of the transgender community."

“We stand in collective grief and outrage at the senseless murder of Savannah Ryan Williams, a 38-year-old transgender woman brutally taken from our community," the Caucus shared, in part .

In a statement Wednesday, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said she shares in the community's outrage over Williams' death.

"This was not an act of self-defense," Moriarty stated. "Mr. Bible caused immeasurable harm to Savannah's family and the broader community, and following today's verdict, he will face a long sentence, which is necessary to protect public safety."

Bible is scheduled to be sentenced September 11 at 8:45 a.m.

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