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Damone Christopher Williams-Tillman charged with murdering ex-girlfriend Josselyn Bishop

Josselyn Bishop Personal Photo

(CBS/WCCO/AP) MANKATO, Minn. - Damone Christopher Williams-Tillman is accused of slashing the throat of his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Josselyn Bishop, after she told him she was seeing someone else.

Pictures: Josselyn Bishop

Williams-Tillman, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder in the Minnesota State University student's death. Her body was found in an industrial area of Mankato, about 90 miles southwest of St. Paul, last Friday.

Bishop was found unresponsive but warm to the touch Friday afternoon. Authorities said she had suffered multiple stab wounds, reports CBS station WCCO.

Due to the high-traffic level in the area, police said she had likely been there for only a few hours before a work crew found her. Crews tried to revive Bishop, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

When Bishop was found she had no identification on her, so police canvassed the area asking for the general public's help in identifying her.

Before long, the victim's roommate contacted police concerned because Bishop hadn't shown up for work, which was unusual for her. Another roommate told police that Bishop had recently broken up with Williams-Tillman.

Officers apprehended Williams-Tillman in Golden Valley, about 6 miles outside of Minneapolis. He told police he had picked up Bishop at a movie theater near her apartment in his father's car. Williams-Tillman told police that during the conversation, Bishop told him she was seeing someone else. He said he blacked out and remembered having a knife and remembered seeing her lying in the grass bleeding, police say.

Police spoke once again with Williams-Tillman, who they say 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, according to police. 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, according to the station.

A jail guard testified that he overhead a confession - Williams-Tillman making a call, saying "I messed up real bad." After a pause he then reportedly said, "I killed someone."

Williams-Tillman remains in custody. A conviction on a second-degree murder charge could result in a prison sentence of up to 40 years.


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