Man Pleads Guilty In Mankato Stabbing Death
MANKATO, Minn. (WCCO) – A 19-year-old Golden Valley man who was a student at Minnesota State University-Mankato admitted to stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death last July in Blue Earth County Court on Wednesday.
Damone Christopher Williams-Tillman pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of Josselyn Bishop. The incident happened July 7, 2011, near the intersection of North Victory and Sohler Drives in Mankato.
Williams-Tillman was indicted by a grand jury last September with five counts of first-degree murder for the killing of Bishop, a 19-year-old from Henderson who was also a student at the college. Bishop's body was found in a busy commercial district of Mankato by a city work crew, according to a criminal complaint.
When authorities got to the scene, they observed that Bishop had multiple stab wounds on her body. She had no identification on her, so police canvassed the area, asking for the general public's help in identifying her.
A short time later, the victim's roommate contacted police concerned because Bishop hadn't shown up for work, which was unusual. Another roommate told police that Bishop had recently broken up with Williams-Tillman.
Officers apprehended Williams-Tillman in Golden Valley. He told police he had picked up Bishop at a movie theater near her apartment in his father's car. During the conversation, he said she told him she was seeing someone else. He said he blacked out and remembered having a knife, and remembered seeing her laying in the grass bleeding.
Police spoke once again with Williams-Tillman, who admitted to them that he began stabbing Bishop after she told him that she was seeing someone else. He said he couldn't remember how many times he stabbed her because he closed his eyes while doing it. He also told investigators he remembers throwing his knife and Bishop's cell phone out of his car window, over a bridge with water, as he drove away from the scene.
