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Serial Killer Survivor Stories
The 10-Year-Old Who Stopped a Texas Serial Killer
Tommy Lynn Sells confessed to killing up to 70 people before a young girl brought him to justice.
Krystal Surles was just 10-years-old when serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells slashed her throat and murdered her best friend in front of her. Astonishingly, Krystal was able to play dead so convincingly that the murderer left the property. The young girl then ran a quarter-mile to alert neighbors. Unable to speak, Krystal wrote notes to ask others to summon immediate help. From her hospital bed, she went on to support the police investigation and created a detailed sketch that helped police apprehend her attacker.
Krystal had no idea that she would bring down one of the most prolific serial killers of the time.
It was New Year’s Eve, the turn of the millennium: 31st December 1999. For the Surles and Harris families, it was memorable for the worst of reasons.
Krystal (10) and Marque Surles (7) arrived at their close friend’s home to spend the night. The sisters argued and Krystal insisted that Marque sleep alone in the spare room, leaving Katy Harris (13) and Krystal the bunk beds to themselves.
Marque later recalled lying in bed ‘fuming’ that her sister had banished her to the single room so that she could enjoy a sleepover alone with her best friend, Katy.
It’s almost certain that, had Marque been in the bunk beds too, she wouldn’t be alive today.
As those in the Harris home slept, ex-convict Tommy Lynn Sells broke into the property.
Tommy Lynn Sells — Human Predator
35-year-old Sells had already spent time in prison and committed a variety of crimes, from petty theft and drugs, to rape and assault.
It’s believed that Sells began killing as young as 15 when he murdered a man whose home he had broken into. It’s thought that Sells killed women and children too, although many crimes believed to…
