Police ask for help in south Minneapolis beating death

City police again asked for the public's help Tuesday in identifying a suspect or suspects in the beating death of a 30-year-old woman in south Minneapolis.

Officers responding to a "report of one down" in the early morning of Sept. 3 in the area of E. Lake Street and 12th Avenue South, on the border of the Midtown Phillips and Powderhorn Park neighborhoods, found Rebecca Anderson lying unconscious after a severe beating, according to a police news release issued on Tuesday. Anderson was taken to a Ramsey County hospital to be treated for her injuries. She died there on Nov. 26, nearly two months after the beating, police said.

The Ramsey County medical examiner's office ruled her death a homicide, although it hasn't been counted in Minneapolis' tally of killings.

According to police, Minneapolis has recorded 45 homicides this year, putting the city on pace to have its deadliest year in nearly a decade. Not included in that tally is one killing that is being investigated as self-defense and another in which medical examiners were unable to establish whether a man shot himself or was killed by someone else. And on Monday, city man was charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and interference with a dead body in connection with the disappearance and possible death of a 25-year-old woman.

Department spokesman John Elder said on Tuesday that police had previously appealed to the public for assistance in identifying a suspect or suspects in Anderson's beating.

"The Minneapolis Police Department is teaming up with CrimeStoppers of Minnesota to provide a cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction in this homicide," Elder said in the release. He provided no further details on the circumstances surrounding her death.

Police are asking anyone with information about Anderson's killing to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).