Man sentenced to 30 years for murder of trans woman in Minneapolis

A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty of the murder of a transgender woman.

Damarean Kaylon Bible, 25, was jailed for 367 months after being convicted of second-degree murder, having shot Savannah Ryan Williams last November. Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, he will serve two-thirds of his sentence behind bars and the rest under supervised probation, KSTP News reported.

Loved ones said 38-year-old Williams could always make them “laugh and smile” and that her murder has “for ever stained our lives with grief”.

Describing Williams as her “best friend”, the victim’s mother told the sentencing hearing that her daughter “lives on” and “her memory makes us laugh and smile”.

Bible apologised to Williams’ family and romantic partner before judge Juan Hoyos passed sentence.

Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty told reporters: “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,” NBC News reported.

Bible reportedly told police that he shot Williams after a sex act, because he said he felt “suspicious” about her. Despite this, Moriarty said the prosecution could not prove “prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that it was a hate crime, although that could have been a factor.

“The fact that we could not charge this as a bias crime does not change the impact this crime has had on making our trans community feel less safe,” she added. “Across the country and in our community, hateful acts of violence against transgender people are on the rise. Every time a trans person is attacked, the entire community feels less safe.”

In court, prosecutor James Hanneman suggested Williams was killed “because of who she was”, according to KTSP.

Minnesota state representative Leigh Finke, the first trans person elected to the state’s legislature, called out the escalating violence against trans people, claiming the state’s queer caucus would “do everything in our power at the capitol to solve this crisis”.

Finke went on to say: “Savannah Ryan Williams was a beloved member of the trans and Two Spirit community and she should be alive today. The data is clear that trans people, especially trans people of colour, suffer violence at rates far greater than our cisgender neighbours.”

Last year, some 321 trans and gender-non-conforming people were murdered worldwide, with the majority reported to be transgender women of colour.

Anyone in the UK who has witnessed or experienced a hate crime is urged to call the police on 101, Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit the True Vision website. In an emergency, always dial 999.

In the US, anyone who experiences or witnesses a hate crime can report it to police by calling 911 in an emergency or to the FBI’s Victim Services Division.