The state laid it all out Sunday with its final witnesses and evidence — they say it shows Quinton Tellis wasn’t only with Chambers in her final hours, but is responsible for this crime.
Chambers’ mother held back tears as she watched her 19-year-old walk across a TV screen in surveillance video shown in court Sunday.
“This is the last time Jessica Chambers was ever seen alive,” said Paul Rowlett, an intelligence analyst with the Department of Justice.
This video along with several others were shown to jurors to document Chambers and Quinton Tellis’ movements the day she died.
The state said Chambers and Tellis drove to Batesville in her car together and came back to Courtland around 6:30.
Tellis told investigators she then left his house around 7, but surveillance video doesn’t show Chambers or Tellis leave his house. Instead, the state said a car left the driveway next to Tellis’ just before 8.
That’s the area where Tellis said they once had sex in her passenger seat. Investigators think he somehow made her unconscious there.
Chambers’ phone was active at 7:30 in the spot she’d later be found burned alive.
Video shows a car pull into Tellis’ driveway around 7:50 for about a minute, then drive in the direction of the crime scene.
Around 8:30, Tellis was seen in Batesville without a coat and then, 30 minutes later, he was seen in Courtland wearing a different outfit.
After finding out about Chambers being in a car fire, Tellis didn’t try contacting her, according to phone records and ended up deleting all her text messages.
The defense brought up how cooperative Tellis was with investigators, how he never admitted to the crime and how all prior interactions with Chambers were friendly.
And of course, there were the reports from 10 first responders where they heard Chambers answer “Eric” or “Derek” when asked who set her on fire.
Before resting their case the state asked their final questions to the man who analyzed all the data in the investigation.
“You told the jury this was like a puzzle, and it took you basically four years to put this puzzle together,” District Attorney John Champion said to Rowlett. “Was there a picture at the conclusion of that puzzle?” Rowlett answered: “There was and to me, it was a clear picture of Quinton Tellis.”