Friends Remember Minnesota Trans Woman Who Was Shot and Killed Last Month

Friends are remembering Minnesota transgender woman Savannah Ryan Williams as someone who was “full of life” and benefited from the time she spent with a trans women’s support group.

Williams’s life ended when she was shot in the head November 29 in Minneapolis. Damarean Kaylon Bible, 25, has been charged with second-degree murder in her death. He told police he shot her after she performed oral sex on him. He said he had become “suspicious” and “had to do it,” according to police.

Williams, 38, was a frequent attendee at Tea Time, a support group at the Aliveness Project in Minneapolis. “There, she would join others to talk about issues, fears and joy,” TV station KARE reports.

“She was full of life,” Luna Hernandez, who knew her from the group, told KARE. “It’s very unfortunate that her life got taken away.”

Her death “was a hate crime,” said another Tea Time attendee, Amber Muhm.

“It just needs to stop,” Muhm added. “We have to … walk in public and just be constantly looking over our shoulder and constantly worried about what’s going to happen.”

“Losing her so tragically after her making so many great improvements in life was really sad,” noted Celeste Grignon-Juarez. “Nobody deserves to die this way. But it’s not an uncommon way for trans women to die this way.”

The Aliveness Project also remembered Williams. “The loss of yet another member of our trans community is a source of deep pain for all of us. Acts of discrimination, bigotry, and hatred have no place in our community,” the group said in a statement.

The Minnesota legislature’s Queer Legislative Caucus also released a statement: “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. This heinous act of violence not only extinguishes a vibrant life but serves as a stark reminder of the dangers and discrimination faced by sex workers and transgender individuals, particularly BIPOC transgender women, and femmes. Transphobia has reached a crisis point, claiming lives with alarming frequency. It is imperative that we stand together, speak out, and actively challenge this dangerous ideology.

“Savannah’s death cannot be treated as an isolated incident. It is a consequence of a society that dehumanizes and marginalizes transgender people throughout their lives, even in the face of unspeakable loss. Black transgender women, at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, are disproportionately targeted for violence and face an epidemic of hate crimes. Savannah Ryan Williams was more than just a statistic, her life mattered. We honor her memory by calling for justice and passing legislation to create a state where everyone, regardless of their identity or profession, can live with dignity and safety."

Williams is at least the 30th trans person to die by violence in the U.S. this year, the majority of them Black women. There are likely many others whose deaths have gone unreported or misreported due to deadnaming and misgendering.