Mother recalls final conversation with murdered Taylor clerk

30-year-old Chelsea Small found shot to death at Advance America on Telegraph Road

TAYLOR, Mich. – Debi Kamin recalled the last conversation she had with her daughter Chelsea Small Tuesday morning.

"She had a job to do and she was a professional and she was like, 'Mom I gotta go,' and I said, 'OK baby, I'll talk to you in a little bit,'" said Kamin. "We always told each other, 'I love you, bye.'"

A late afternoon call later brought her to tears.

"I knew, a mom always knows," she said.

Small, 30, was murdered while working at her job. Taylor police say she was working at the Advance America cash advance store on Telegraph Road when a robber, who detectives believe is the man caught on surveillance video, shot Small and took off with cash.

More: Video, images show suspect in Taylor cash advance murder

"First of all, I should have never watched the video. I should have never watched it. Because today I went down and identified my daughter's body at the morgue, to see his handiwork. No parent ever wants their child to be murdered. Never," said Kamin.

Small was a student at Wayne County Community College where she was on the dean's list. She had just returned to work after a four-day vacation.

Her grieving mother now is left to tell Small's 5-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter that mommy isn't coming home.

"They know that she's not coming back and that she's helping God," said the grandmother.

The suspect is described as a white man about 35 to 50 years old with a stock build and dark, bushy hair.