Kids living in a home unaware a murdered woman was inside, cops in Minnesota say

A man reportedly told another person about a murder he committed and then fled the state on a bus, police in Minnesota said.

McKinley Phillips, 39, was arrested at a Greyhound bus stop in Tomah, Wisconsin, around 3 a.m. Saturday, June 26. He was charged in connection to a woman's death in Woodbury, Minnesota. 

Dispatchers in Woodbury received a call from a woman who said a man called her to confess to killing a woman and leaving her dead body in a house full of children on June 25, according to a statement from the Woodbury Police Department.

Police arrived at the home on Steepleview Road, where a man “known to Woodbury police” lived. Officers and a SWAT team assembled outside the home and reportedly tried to make contact with anyone inside the house, according to Woodbury police.

Officers said several children of varying ages came out of the home and told them the man in question was not home.

They also reportedly told police the woman who called 911 left as well.

The children inside the home were taken to a safe location to be cared for, police said.

SWAT members entered the house and found the woman dead inside. Lifesaving measures were not attempted on the woman “based on her condition,” police said.

Police said the children were not aware of the dead victim inside the home.