Every Town - Courtland, Mississippi: The Unresolved Case of a Cheerleader Burned to Death

Episode Date: September 2, 2020

Go to https://deadboltmysterysociety.com/ and use the promo code: deadbolt20 for 20% OFF your first order!Scary Mysteries Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiE86yS_VM7qjiICqRPmwLQ?view_as=subscriber Own Shares In Our New HORROR MOVIE: https://www.startengine.com/an-angry-boyContact US: [e-mail] a person to death is unequivocally diabolical, and dying slowly while getting scorched by blazing flames is extreme torture. Burning at stake had been a method of execution practiced during ancient times, and later adopted in Europe and North America. Although the last execution by burning in the United States involving a slave accused of rape in South Carolina occurred in 1830, horrible cases of people burned to their deaths still happen today. In July 2019, Judy Malinowski of Ohio died 700 days after her crazy ex-boyfriend doused gasoline and set her on fire. 15-year old boy Demetrius Griffin, Jr. was burned alive in September 2016 inside a burning garbage can in an alley in Austin, Chicago. And in 2014, the small town of Courtland, Mississippi was grappled with shock and sadness when a well-loved 19-year old cheerleader of her high school football team was burned to death, and died shortly thereafter. Her tragic story is the focus of our episode today. Support the show Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Again, that's 20% off when you use the promo code deadbolt 20. Come join the deadbolt mystery society today. Every town has a dark side. The following is a story from one of them, but there's still many more to uncover. In this episode, we traveled to Cortland, Mississippi. where we check out the terrifying and unresolved case of a cheerleader who burned a death. Burning a person at death is unequivocally diabolical and dying slowly while getting scorched by blazing flames as extreme torture.

Burning at the stake had been a method of execution practiced during ancient times and later adopted in Europe and North America. Although the last execution by burning in the United States involving a slave accused of rape in South Carolina occurred in 1830. Horrible cases of people burned to their deaths still happen today. For instance, in July of 2019, Judy Malinowski of Ohio died 700 days after her psychotic ex-boyfriend douse gasoline on her and set her on fire. A 15-year-old boy named Demetrius Griffin Jr. was burned alive in September of 2016,

inside a burning garbage can in an alley in Austin, Chicago. And in 2014, a small town of Cortland, Mississippi, was grappled with shock and sadness when a well-loved 19-year-old cheerleader of her high school football team was burned to death. Her tragic story is the focus of our episode today. I'm Andrew Fitzgerald, and this is every town. This week, I'll bring you to Cortland,

a town in Mississippi's Pinola County, rarely talked or written about, but instantly became the focus of attention because of a grisly high-profile crime that happened on December 6, 2014. Jessica Chambers was burned alive and left to die. The circumstances surrounding her death have been analyzed by both the prosecution and defense teams in court battles, yet truth and justice have alluded the Chambers family after two mistrials. Will a third trial be possible, and the prime suspect finally be held accountable for setting the fire that caused Jessica's death? That's a question that is yet to be answered, but first let's get to know more about Jessica Chambers through the eyes and the hearts of her family and friends.

Jessica spent 19 years of her life in Cortland, Mississippi, a quaint town of around 500 people with a 50-50 racial mix of white and black Americans. It's a thriving working-class town where everyone knows practically everyone. The blonde girl had charmed family and friends with her striking blue eyes that made her aunt Sherry Hall dotingly describe her as a blue-eyed, cotton-top little girl whose smile would just light up a room when she came in. However, what endeared Jessica to everyone was her lovable character. Her dad, Ben, who worked as a mechanic at the local sheriff's department, remembers Jessica as a loving child, while Mom Lisa recalls how her daughter was full of life and a source of joy. Jessica always had a contagious smile for everyone and loved making the I Love You hand sign.

She was very trusting of others, believing that no one would harm her. Jessica wanted to be a teacher at one point, then also dreamed of becoming a book writer. But Jessica's consistent aspiration was to become a registered nurse, and her loving nature would have made her a wonderful one. Ashanti Winfield, Jessica's friend and neighbor, said that the young cheerleader loved everybody beyond skin color. Jessica had friends, as well as an ex-boyfriend named Travis Sanford. People treasured Jessica's company because she did the craziest things,

according to another pal of Jessica. With her petite and athletic frame, Jessica fittingly became a part of South Panola High School's cheering squad, and took on the roll of a flyer tossed up in the air during stunts. During football games, her audacity awed everyone and gained her the community's admiration. But Jessica wasn't a goody-to-two-shoes girl through and through. Her parents admitted to her being stubborn as well.

She had her fault, as everybody does. She quit cheerleading when she was 16 and became a rebellious teenager who didn't want anyone telling her what she could or couldn't do. She started smoking, fought with her parents, and figured in relationships with troublesome guys. This was compounded when a painful incident in Jessica's teenage life drifted her to a less virtuous path in the company of not-so-ideal individuals. She was only 17 years old in 2012 when her 28-year-old brother Alan died in a car accident. It stabbed and bore a deep wound in Jessica's heart. Alan's death triggered Jessica to seek refuge.

by changing her social scene. Her schooling became second fiddle to the company of a new set of friends, and finding pleasure by smoking weed became the more important activity in Jessica's life. Her friend Ashanta seconded and attested that both of them would often drive around and smoke weed, which Jessica allegedly sold as well. Thus, people speculated that the once admirable school cheerleader was keeping rough company and getting into a romantic relationship with a gang leader. Jessica finished her high school education with satisfactory grades,

getting mostly A's and B's. She found a job selling clothes at Goody's Department Store in nearby Batesville. It was during that period around Thanksgiving in November of 2014 when Jessica met a black man named Quentin Tellis, 27 years old at that time, through a common friend at a Cortland gas station, Nobody thought, less of all, the very trusting and non-judgmental, Jessica, that Quentin would become the most significant person in the last month of her life, but in the most notorious way. So who is Quentin Tellis?

Quentin also lived in Pinola County and attended the South Panola High School before Jessica became a student there, as Quentin was seven years her senior. In December of 2014, he was living with his mother in a trailer up the road from the convention. convenience store where Jessica was seen on the night she was murdered. A resident in that area had said that Quentin comes from a good family, but his criminal records say otherwise. In October of 2014, a month before he befriended Jessica, Quentin had just been released from prison for his prior convictions for burglary. Then the following year, he faced a more serious indictment in Louisiana for the murder of Ming Chang-So, a 34-year-old Taiwan woman and graduate school student at the University of Louisiana. On July 29, 2015, Quentin purportedly

stabbed the woman more than 30 times in her face and body until she disclosed the pin number of her debit card. After brutally killing her, Quentin left her to rot in her bedroom apartment until her body was discovered 10 days later. He pleaded guilty for the unauthorized use of Meng Chen's debit card after she had died. They say bad luck comes in threes, and Quentin had finally reached his quota in 2016 when he was charged with capital murder for the horrendous 2014 death of Jessica. Her mom, Lisa, had always wondered if her daughter's outgoing personality would get her into trouble, and a mother's gut feel could never be doubted. The most likelihood, Jessica never had an inkling that befriending Quentin would get her into trouble, but their friendship in such a

short period of time cost Jessica and her family her precious life. But how far was Quentin's alleged involvement in Jessica's grave death by burning? Let's revisit that shocking night on December 6, 2014, from the accounts of Jessica's mother, her friend, Lakeisha Meyer, the authorities, and Quentin himself. As the cool holiday breeze was wafting through less than three weeks before Christmas in 2014, it perhaps never crossed anyone's mind in Cortland, Mississippi, that it would be the town's most tragic December to date. Earlier, on December 6, Jessica, Lakeisha, and Quentin rode around town in Jessica's car. According to Lakeisha, she and Jessica smoked weed while Quentin didn't. Lakeisha had met Quentin just a few days earlier, and Jessica introduced him as

just her pal. When she got home, Jessica took a nap. Shortly after, 5 p.m., she then told her mom she would head to a gas station and a convenience store. Lisa called her daughter two hours later to ask what time she would be home, and Jessica assured her that she would be home in a little bit. Surveillance footage at the gas station showed Jessica at around 5.30 p.m. fueling up her car. Clad in a sweater and pajamas, she purchased $14 worth of gas, almost tripled in the usual five she would gas up with. Curious, an attendant there asked Jessica why she purchased that much, and she replied, I'm going somewhere.

The location data on her phone showed that she went to nearby Batesville at around 6 p.m. and returned to Cortland just 30 minutes later. It wasn't determined what her business was in Batesville, and by 7.30, Jessica drove to the secluded Heron Road, a rural back road approximately two miles away from her Cortland home. It was on that woody spot where she stumbled out naked and charred while her 2005 Kia Rio car was in flames 15 minutes past 8 o'clock that night. A passing motorist spotted the scene and immediately called the Pinola County Sheriff's Department. Jessica and her car were ravaged by the fire for at least 30 minutes before local firefighters arrived at the scene. According to Jessica's father, Ben, who was the first family member notified by authorities.

The fire that engulfed the car was so hot that the black-colored vehicle turned white or more than 98% of Jessica's body was covered with burns. The different accounts of volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians who rescued Jessica would definitely leave anyone sympathetic, yet enraged at the diabolical way she was undeservingly killed. They were shocked at the gravity of Jessica's injuries. Fire volunteer chief Cole Haley recalled, When I got there, Jessica came towards me saying,

Help me, help me, help me. Her hair was fried like she had stuck her finger in a socket. Her face was black, and she was burned all down her body. All he could do was hold Jessica's hand and assure her that it would be okay, but the teenage girl said, I'm going to die. Another volunteer firefighter thought there appeared a zombie emerging from the woods because that was how the burnt Jessica looked. She was then airlifted to Regional One Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, where her mother, Lisa, saw her alive for the last time.

Jessica took her last breath the following day, but she died without leaving a clue as to who did the revolting crime to her. A number of first responders heard Jessica had said multiple times in a hoarse whisper to them, Eric did this to me, which others heard as Derek. It was an evidence significantly emphasized by the prosecution, but thoroughly debated against by the defense during the trial of the person who eventually became the prime suspect in murdering Jessica, Quentin Tellis. Expectedly, emotions ran high in the aftermath of Jessica's death. Her father said that it was beyond murder and was a revengeful, hateful killing. Her bereave mother said, this would have to be done by a heartless soulless person, demonic in my opinion.

The Cortland community wasn't remiss in giving support to the chambers. Hundreds of people attended Jessica's funeral on December 13, 2014. The reward for helping solve Jessica's case reached $54,000, and even strangers sent cards and flowers to the surviving family members. As Lisa spent more time online reaching out to people interested in her daughter's case, she received a new laptop as well as a new phone from generous souls after her own phone got broken. Lisa said, I don't want to close the computer because I don't want to close my eyes. If I close them, I see her burning.

Soon, federal state and local authorities joined forces in investigating and pursuing every lead. Police interviewed several people. people called Eric or Derek, but no one was charged. As weeks went by with no arrests, speculation started to sprout. Her neighbor and best friend Charlotte Wilkerson believed it was a crime of passion and a result of a strong vendetta against her friend. Jessica was supposed to attend the birthday party of Charlotte's son that night, but she obviously preferred the company of Quentin. Since Jessica was said to have dated black men, including Quentin, She was then attacked by white supremacists for being in an interracial relationship.

Contradicting speculations raised suspicion that Jessica's perpetrators were black members of a gang she was a part of who killed her for trying to get out of the group. Jessica's father somehow found this last theory plausible saying, I think Jessica got in over her head with some people and found out some things she shouldn't have known. but the gang members offered condolences to the Chambers family after the girl had died. Thousands of telephone numbers were examined and more than 150 individuals as far as Iowa and Chattanooga, Tennessee, were questioned. The investigator's probe not only Jessica's former boyfriends, but also gang members and convicted drug dealers she might have had contact with. Moreover, they also use cell phone technology, text records, and surveillance cameras to identify the

suspect. Then all leads pointed to Quentin Tellis when his DNA was found on Jessica's car keys and his cell phone records traced his location on the night of December 6, 2014 to the exact site where Jessica was burned alive. Quentin was charged with capital murder and arson on February 24th, 2016 after it took a long time for the investigation team to build the case. Jessica's father has never seen nor talk to Quentin and didn't know anything about the prime suspect. Lisa, meanwhile, welcome the good news. This is just the beginning for justice for Jessica.

It's long overdue and it's a long road ahead, she said. What ensued was a murder trial starting on October 10, 2017 in Batesville in which Quentin pleaded not guilty. Pinola County, District Attorney John Champion, believed it was a personal crime as Jessica and Quentin knew each other and her death wasn't related to drug or gang activity. He added, the technological data that we had available to us is no doubt what helped us solve this case. The two were connected through cell phone calls and text messages and Quentin was allegedly the last person to text Jessica the night she died. location data from their cell phones showed that the two were together up until around 7.30 p.m. on that night. Quentin had traveled to and from Batesville at the same time as her.

The prosecutors pinned down Quentin by providing evidence of how he pestered Jessica for sex through numerous text messages, even on the day she was murdered. But the teenage girl repeatedly rejected him. The prosecutors further argued that on that tragic December, night, he and Jessica drove around for a bit before they got intimate in her car. Quentin then strangled Jessica, doused her in gasoline and litter on fire believing that she was dead. During the investigation prior to the trial, Quentin had an alibi of his whereabouts on the night Jessica was burned, but various friends he claimed to be with couldn't confirm this alibi. A surveillance

video showed him buying a phone card for his girlfriend at a convenience store at 826 p.m. or around 15 minutes after Jessica was found by firefighters. Quinton finally admitted having sex with Jessica once, but not on the night of December 6th. He also confessed to deleting all phone messages he exchanged with her. The centerpiece of the prosecution, though, was what Jessica uttered when she was rescued. Ten emergency responders testified they heard Jessica say the name Eric or Derek as the man who attacked her, and that he, was black and wasn't her boyfriend, perhaps alluding to Quentin. But the defense team pounded on the juror's minds that there was no hard evidence that Quentin committed the crimes

of murder and arson and that it could have been another man as Quentin was never called or known of as Eric or Derek. Controversy also shrouded the reading of the verdict. When the judge asked the 12-member jury if they had unanimously agreed on a verdict, a male juror, shockingly said, we didn't all agree. Thus, the judge asked them to continue with their deliberation. Shortly after, the verdict was then read, not guilty. Upon the request of the prosecution, the judge polled the jury. Seven found Quentin guilty, while five didn't. This led to a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial. The Chambers family was in pain and frustration, while Quentin's relatives felt relief and joy.

A second murder trial commenced on September 24, 2018, with new witnesses, local resident Sherry Flowers, who testified she picked up Quentin that night near the spot where Jessica was burned to death, and Dr. Caroline Higden, a speech-language pathology expert, who told the court that Jessica would have been unable to utter the names Eric or Derek based on her injuries. Defense attorneys urged jurors to trust Dr. Higden's testimony, a foundation, of their arguments in the first trial. Despite these, the jury couldn't reach a decision after 12 hours of deliberation,

so Pinola County Circuit judge, Gerald Chatham, declared a mistrial for the second time. After two hung juries, Jessica and her family's quest for truth and justice is also left hanging. Jessica's mother has said that there has to be a third trial, but she isn't sure that it would end up in their favor just like the first two.

I am just a mother that is dying every day. There's got to be something they can do. They know who killed her. Prove it. Lisa pleaded. As for the likelihood of taking a third swing, District Attorney John Champion offers that there's talk of trying Jessica's case again, but her suspected murderer, Quentin Tellis,

is still awaiting a separate trial in Louisiana in connection with the July 2015 murder of Meng Chen So. Will the possible third trial of Jessica's unforgivable murder be an exemption that will send her attacker rotting in jail and eventually burning in hell? Only time will tell. So that's it for this week's episode of Everytown. If you're interested in hearing more creepy stories

that are currently happening in our world, then make sure to check out our Scary Mysteries podcast and YouTube channel where each week we cover topical stories in our twisted news segment and every month we have the strange and scary mysteries of the month, and those are all about what's happening right now all around us. Please subscribe and email us at info at new dawnfilm.com to let us know if you have any stories you'd like us to cover and tune in next week for another episode

filled with scary, strange, and mysterious stories about every town out there. And who knows, maybe your town will be next.