Inset: Damian Mitchell (Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry). Background: The Safeway grocery store in Phoenix where Damian Mitchell purchased a paring knife that he used to stab a man outside (Google Maps).
An Arizona man is set to serve a 25-year prison sentence after a deadly stabbing involving a knife he had just purchased from a Safeway grocery store. According to court documents, the incident occurred after a brief verbal exchange with a stranger outside the store.
Damian Mitchell, 48, was found guilty and sentenced this week for the fatal stabbing of 29-year-old Reminisce Biddle, which took place in Phoenix in December 2024. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed the conviction in a press release.
A jury convicted Mitchell of second-degree murder, underscoring the severity of the crime.
On December 29, 2024, Biddle managed to enter a Phoenix grocery store and report that he had been stabbed before collapsing, according to the attorney’s office. Investigators determined that after a brief encounter with Mitchell outside the store, Mitchell followed Biddle behind a building and inflicted a fatal stab wound to his chest.
Details from a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime reveal that surveillance footage captured Mitchell purchasing a 3.5-inch paring knife and a can opener at Safeway, using a prepaid debit card for the transaction.
“The surveillance video confirmed that the knife bought by Mitchell matched the wound found on the victim,” stated the attorney’s office. “Utilizing the debit card information, Phoenix Police detectives were able to identify Mitchell and gather further evidence connecting him to the murder.”
After exiting the store, Mitchell and Biddle “passed each other and exchanged words,” according to the affidavit. Mitchell followed Biddle for a few blocks and then attacked him behind a nearby building.
“This defendant chose to turn a brief encounter into a moment of violence, taking Reminisce’s life and leaving his family and loved ones with irreparable loss,” said Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in her office’s press release.
After being tracked down through the debit card, Mitchell was arrested on Jan. 5, 2025, and questioned about what happened. “The defendant admitted he entered the Safeway grocery store and purchased the knife,” the affidavit says. “He stated he left the Safeway and rode his bicycle to the area of what he described as the crime scene.”
Mitchell tried to claim that another individual had asked to use the paring knife that he purchased, stabbed Biddle with it, and then returned it to Mitchell after the attack, according to the affidavit. Mitchell said he discarded the knife in a parking lot after seeing that there was blood on it.
A witness who saw the initial confrontation between Mitchell and Biddle told police that they saw Biddle being followed by Mitchell and “heard what sounded like an altercation” after the two of them went behind the nearby building.
“[The witness] observed Biddle hold his chest and leave the area westbound on a bicycle, while the suspect left eastbound on his mountain bike,” the affidavit says.
“I’m thankful to prosecutor Bernita Clark for getting justice for Reminisce and his family, and ensuring his killer is held accountable,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
