Memphis man believes serial killer’s sketch shows his murdered mother

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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis man believes his mother was one of dozens of women murdered by a serial killer decades ago after seeing a sketch on social media this week that bears a striking resemblance to her.

Samuel Little has confessed to 90 murders, and drew sketches for investigators of some of his victims who have never been identified.

After seeing one of those sketches, Anthony Jones says he believes the woman pictured is his mother, according to WREG.

The last time he saw his mother was Christmas Eve 1996, when he was 15.

“She was like, ‘I love you son… I’m gonna see you for Christmas tomorrow.’ I’m like, ‘Yes ma’am, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Next day comes, nobody heard from my mama. Day after that, nobody heard from my mama,” he said.

Nearly two weeks later, Priscilla Baxter-Jones was found dead in the Mississippi River.

The 36-year-old prostitute had been raped, stabbed and strangled, Anthony said.

“It always been on his mind heavy about what happened to his mom,” said Jones’ wife, Erica Wells-Jones. “He always said that he wished the killer would come forward or that he could find the killer in some type of way.”

Then this week, more than two decades later, Erica saw something that might finally bring the closure they’ve been waiting for — a sketch of a woman drawn by Little of a woman he says he murdered in Memphis during the same time frame.

“We put those pictures side by side and you know, like, that’s her,” she said.

And not only did Anthony recognize who he believes without a doubt is his mother, he says he immediately recognized the killer, too.

He believes his mom and Little possibly knew each other for months before her murder, and that he even met him.

“I just seen the older picture first and I automatically knew who he was ‘cause I don’t forget faces. That’s just me. I can’t forget faces,” he said. “My mama’s killer just popped up outta the blue, and he drew a sketch of my mama.”

Investigators say Little drew sketches of at least 16 of his unidentified victims, and admitted to strangling the woman drawn in this sketch, putting her in the back of his car and dumping her body in the Mississippi River.

Anthony and his wife says they know they can’t bring his mother back, but they hope that by coming forward, they’ll be able to help keep Little in prison.

“For him to sit there and do the stuff that he did and talk about the way he treats people, that ain’t right,” Anthony said.

“It would be a big weight off him and his brothers’ shoulders to know that this man is off the street,” Erica added.

It’s worth noting that the family says Jones was stabbed and investigators say Little did not stab any of his victims.