The Jessica Chambers case was cold since 2014. The good people of Courtland, Mississippi, found themselves wondering just who killed 19-year-old Jessica Chambers.
The death of a young girl is almost always traumatic—more so when the death is clearly a homicide.
The Case: Chambers is Found
Jessica Lane Chambers spent December 6th, 2014, with two friends in the morning. Then, she’d gone to her mother’s. Later, she’d told her mother she was headed out to get a few things. She never returned.
Chambers was later found dead around 8 pm, next to her burning car. Jessica’s still-alive body was also on fire. Initial investigation revealed that flammable liquid had been poured all over her—and inside her. She suffered from burns all over her body, and died the next morning, succumbing to her horrific injuries.
Jessica’s car keys were found on the crime scene. The authorities also found her cell phone.
Suspects
A couple of people were investigated, including her boyfriend. First respondents did inform the police that someone named either “Eric” or “Derreck” had attacked her. However, Jessica died before she could divulge any more information—and the investigating teams had nothing else to go on. Her boyfriend had, at that time, been in jail, and was ruled out as a suspect.
The case eventually became cold.
The Cell Phone
Jessica’s cell phone records revealed that the last person she talked to was a man named Quentin Tellis. The authorities had questioned Tellis, and he had told a story that had absolved him of suspicion.
Further investigation, however, revealed that his story was fabricated. It was, eventually, Jessica’s and his cell phone’s location data that placed them both at the same place and the same time on the day of her death—in fact, at the estimated time of her death.
Additionally, his DNA was also found on Jessica’s car keys—which were found some paces away from the crime scene. Surveillance footage added weight to the evidence: Jessica’s car had been near his house earlier that day, and Tellis had changed his clothes thrice on that day.
Phone data brought Jessica’s murderer to justice.
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