Minneapolis Man Pleads Guilty in Fatal Downtown Stabbing

May 27

A Minneapolis man was sentenced to just over 12 years in prison after admitting to fatally stabbing another man at a downtown bus stop late last year.

Joseph Eugene Davis, 58, pleaded guilty last week to first-degree manslaughter for the Dec. 23, 2024 stabbing near 5th Street South and Nicollet Mall.

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He is expected to be sentenced to 146 months in prison at a hearing set for June 16. In exchange for the plea, a second-degree murder charge—punishable by up to 40 years—will be dismissed.

Court documents say Minneapolis officers were called to the scene just before midnight and found the victim unresponsive and bleeding heavily from a stab wound to the neck. The man collapsed next to a Metro Transit bus after being attacked outside a bus shelter and a large blood trail was visible nearby.

Surveillance footage reviewed by police showed Davis and the victim approaching each other in the shelter before Davis appeared to swing at the man, prompting a struggle. The victim backed away into the street and assumed a defensive posture while holding an object in one hand. After striking Davis, the victim tried to retrieve something near the shelter, but Davis stepped in front of him and advanced while swinging with a knife. The confrontation moved out of camera view, and Davis was then seen running to his e-bike and fleeing. The victim soon reappeared, stumbled and collapsed, the documents say.

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The man suffered a stab wound to his right carotid artery and was hospitalized in critical condition. Doctors later informed police that he remained unresponsive and had been scheduled for organ donation.

Davis was arrested a short time later near Colfax Avenue South and West Lake Street. A knife was recovered and in a post-Miranda statement, Davis claimed he intervened when the victim aggressively approached a woman at the stop. He told investigators he only intended to scare the man and that the victim struck him with a metal object. He said the victim “essentially impaled himself” during a second confrontation. Investigators noted that surveillance video contradicted several aspects of his account.

Davis remains in custody as he awaits sentencing.

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