In the quiet community of Itta Bena, Mississippi, a grim discovery was made on the morning of March 16, 2020. The bodies of 49-year-old Jacqueline Taylor and 58-year-old Freddie Mask were found inside a residence on County Road 138. A concerned citizen who knew the victims noticed that the interior front door of the home was open while the glass storm door was closed and stopped to check on them.
Upon entering, the citizen found both Taylor and Mask had been shot to death and immediately contacted the Leflore County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators determined that the murders had occurred in the early morning hours, between 4:00 and 4:30 a.m. Suspicion soon fell upon Stephen B. Williams Jr., who was 24 years old at the time. Williams was already being investigated as a suspect in an unrelated shooting that had occurred just two days prior in Sidon, Mississippi. As the investigation into the double homicide progressed, Williams emerged as the primary suspect.
During the course of the investigation, Stephen B. Williams Jr. confessed to Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks and his deputies that he had killed both Jacqueline Taylor and Freddie Mask. He admitted that the motive for the murders was robbery. Following his confession, Williams was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
On August 2, 2021, Stephen B. Williams Jr. pleaded guilty to the murders of Jacqueline Taylor and Freddie Mask. Leflore Circuit Judge Ashley Hines sentenced Williams to two consecutive life sentences, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life in prison. In addition to the murder charges, Williams also pleaded guilty to aggravated domestic violence charges from the unrelated case and received a two-year sentence to be served concurrently with his life sentences.
