Man charged for murder in Minneapolis’ Phillips West neighborhood

A Minneapolis man is now charged for a killing last week in the city’s Phillips West neighborhood.

It happened just outside the Urban Ventures building in the 3000 block of 4th Avenue South on Nov. 29.

As previously reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, police were called to the scene at around 9 a.m. on a report of a person down in the courtyard area. Court documents note the victim, 38-year-old Savannah Ryan Williams, was obviously dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

According to charging documents, investigators were able to review surveillance video from the area, where they saw Williams and a man walking toward where Williams was found at around 5 a.m. that same day. Around 45 minutes later, the man walked away but Williams never did.

Officers were able to follow the man all the way from the scene to an apartment building downtown, and they later arrested him as he left. That man, 25-year-old Damarean Kaylon Bible, is now charged with second-degree murder for Williams’ death.

A criminal complaint notes that Bible called his parents from jail and said he’d “just murdered someone” and while he was sorry, he “had to do it.”

Police later found a 9 mm handgun and a rifle in his apartment, as well as the clothing he was seen wearing on surveillance videos at the time of the murder, the complaint states.

While Bible initially claimed he wasn’t involved, he later admitted that he shot Williams, according to court documents. He went on to explain that he walked past Williams, who was in a bus shelter, and Williams asked if he was interested in sex. They walked to the courtyard and, once finished, Bible said Williams was making him feel suspicious and that’s when shot her.

Bible is scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and faces up to 40 years in prison. He’s also charged with attempted aggravated robbery from an incident earlier in November.