TULSA, Ok — Carmen Anderson spent the last night of her son Donnie Williams' life celebrating his birthday with him at a Tulsa club.
The next morning, a bus driver found him beaten to death on the side of the road.
WATCH: Oklahoma's Cold Case Files: Donnie Williams
More than three years later, his killer has never been identified.
On the night of Aug. 28, 2021, Donnie was at the Retro Club on Peoria Avenue, ringing in his birthday with family.
"He was at the Retro Club on Peoria and he was celebrating his birthday and first of all, we had just left them," said Anderson.
"He wanted us to stay and I told him, babe, we was tired and we had been up there all day."
That would be the last time Anderson saw her son alive.
According to Anderson, Donnie left the club, blew his tires on a curb and parked his car at a nearby church before setting out on foot.
"My understanding was that Donnie was leaving a bar and he ran over a curve and blew his tires out and so he made it as far as I think Trenton and Peoria and so he parked his car at a church and he proceeded to walk home," said Anderson.
The following morning — Aug. 29, 2021 — around 7:30 a.m., a Tulsa bus driver spotted a man lying on the side of the road near 42nd and North Peoria.
"I guess she was on her route and seen him lying there," said Anderson.
That man was Donnie, covered in blood, dead from an apparent head trauma.
A baseball bat discovered underneath a nearby mattress is believed by investigators to have possibly been used in his murder.
Tulsa Police homicide detectives launched an investigation.
But the call every mother dreads never came for Anderson.
"It was on the 28th and he died on the 29th. And no one informed me that he was dead," she said.
More than three years have passed, and Donnie's killer has never been identified.
Anderson said her repeated attempts to get updates from investigators have gone unanswered.
"There's been a time where I've called the Tulsa Police Department 10 times and I still have not received one call from nobody," said Anderson.
2 News reached out to Tulsa Police on Anderson's behalf and learned they are working advances in the world of forensics, and hope to do additional testing of evidence that could lead to the identity of Donnie's killer.
For Anderson, that cannot come soon enough.
"I want closure and the only way I'm going to get some closure is for me to know what happened," she said.
"For a mother not to know, it's one of the most devastating things that could ever happen to me."
If you have any information about Donnie Williams' death, Tulsa Crime Stoppers wants to hear from you. Call 918-596-COPS.
If you have a cold case you would like featured, email coldcase@kjrh.com.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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