Stillwater man admits to strangling girlfriend, framing an overdose

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Ivan Walker, 33, of Stillwater, Minnestoa is charged with kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl. A suspicious death in the same home remains under investigation. 

A Stillwater man has admitted to strangling his girlfriend before making it look like she died of an overdose.

“I just miss my sister,” said the victim’s sister Krystal Hollins.

Hollins described the last seven months as hell.

“There is no way to get over it,” Hollins said. “There is no way for you to heal because there’s always a reminder that you have a new normal.”

On July 23, Hollins lost her best friend and sister Shana Hollins-Branch in a horrific incident inside Shana’s East St. Paul townhouse.

On Friday, her killer and ex-boyfriend Ivan Walker admitted in court he strangled the 39-year-old and then tried to make it look like a drug overdose by placing a straw with traces of cocaine in Hollins-Branch’s nose.

Walker also pleaded guilty to a count of sexual assault for raping a teenage family member of Hollins-Branch’s that same night.

“It did make me physically sick when I was told what was happening,” Hollins said. “I did have a physical reaction. I got physically sick.”

As part of the plea deal, Walker gets 30 years in prison, which Hollins argues is not enough.

“I know the system is set up for justice to happen and prevail, but this was not the justice I envisioned for my family and our community,” Hollins said. “I don’t have my sister. I miss how feisty she was. She wasn’t an angel. No one is, but she was a good balance to me.”