My Sister, Jessica, Was Burned Alive
It was a few weeks before Christmas in 2014 when former Mississippi high school cheerleader, Jessica Chambers, 19, was doused with gasoline and burned alive. After a long investigation, Quinton Tellis, now 29, an acquaintance of Chambers was arrested and charged with her murder. A judge declared a mistrial in October 2017, but Tellis is currently being retried.
In an exclusive interview, Chambers’ sister, Amanda “AJ” Prince,” 29, tells Cosmopolitan.com what it was like to find out her sister had been killed and why she believes Tellis is guilty.
When my mom called me the night of December 6, 2014, I was in the kitchen microwaving popcorn. I let it ring. I’d text her back later.
She called again. And then a third time. And then a voicemail telling me to call her immediately. Before I even had a chance to finish listening to the message, my mom was beeping in.
I picked up and heard her screaming. “Someone’s burned Jessica! She’s been burned!”
Wait, what?
"Is it bad?" I asked. My heart beating fast.
I could hear heavy breathing on the other end of the line, but no words.
Now I was screaming. “Mama! Talk to me. What do you mean she’s burned?”
“Someone set her on fire,” my mom said. “They don’t think she’s going to make it.”
I began sobbing. I was so upset that I hung up the phone and curled up in a ball in the corner of my house. Who would do this to my baby sister? Who would hurt my best friend in the whole world?
Later I would get more details. Just after sundown, a passing motorist found Jessica wandering a back road near our small Mississippi hometown of Courtland. There were third-degree burns covering her entire body. She was alive. Medics arrived on the scene and transported her by helicopter to a hospital in Memphis.
A few hours later, she was dead.
Even though Jessica was six years younger than me, we were inseparable growing up. I taught her to play softball and was even the assistant coach of her team. When she made the cheerleading squad in sixth grade, I went with her to practice every day and watched her do backflips and somersaults. She was this little bitty girl and her teammates would throw her up into the air. I watched from the sidelines, thinking, Oh my goodness y’all! Do not drop her! My little sister-the flyer.
She had big dreams. She wanted to be a nurse most days-the other days, an author or a fashion designer. In high school, she was a class clown. She liked being the center of attention and she talked to everybody. There wasn’t one person she wouldn't get to know.
Jessica especially adored my boyfriend, Billy, who is now my husband. She told me from day one that she never saw me marrying anyone else. “You never let him go!” she’d say. “I know y’all will work because I know how much you love him and I know how much he loves you.” She was right. In 2011, we got married. Jessica was my maid of honor.
After the wedding, I moved to El, Paso, Texas- Billy is in the military and he was stationed at Fort Bliss. I was excited for a new adventure, but heartbroken to leave my family behind, especially Jessica. I’d text her every day: How are you doing? Don’t forget you need to do your homework! I miss you.
The last voicemail I have from Jessica is dated November 9, 2014. After graduating high school, she had gotten a job at a retail store called Goody’s. They had just gotten in a shipment of Frozen merchandise and she called to ask what size shirts my daughters wore-she wanted to get them clothes for Christmas. Jessica loved being an aunt.
Twenty-eight days later she would be dead.
When Jessica was found on the side of the road, she had burns on more than 90 percent of her body. Her car was burned, too. The firefighters who arrived on the scene said she was mumbling “Eric” or “Derek” when they asked her who had done this to her. I don’t believe that’s what she was saying. Her speech was garbled and she wasn’t able to enunciate syllables.
After she passed away, I didn’t sleep at all that night. One of my best friends came over and sat together in disbelief. Why? Who did this? How could this have happened?
I created a Facebook page called “Justice for Jessica” in hopes of getting tips, information, and to create a place to remember her. Within 24 hours, 159,000 people had “liked” the page. I can’t count how many offers we got to help search for the person responsible. There were a few bad people making baseless accusations-blaming my mom’s parenting for Jessica’s death or spreading terrible rumors that it was Jessica’s dad who murdered her. Everyone was interested in her case and suddenly her face was all over the national news.
For more than a year, my family was in the dark, not knowing who did it. It was horrible. When I flew home to Mississippi, I’d see strangers at the grocery store or walk down the street and think, Was it them? Do they know who’s responsible?
Finally, in February 2016, a criminal indictment was announced. When my mom called to tell me the news, I fell to the ground. There was a name: Quinton Tellis. I knew him. I went to elementary school with him.
I remember he got in trouble a lot as a kid. He liked attention, and when the teacher told him to do something, he’d do the opposite. I even worked with his sister at a fast food restaurant. We were close and used to text each other.
Jessica had never mentioned Quinton to me.
I don't know why it happened.
But I 100 percent believe I know who did this-Quinton.
He lied about being with my sister that day. He provided a bunch of difference alibis and none of them panned out. He also said he barely knew her, but according to records, for two weeks they texted and talked on the phone every day. On the day my sister was attacked, text messages show that my sister rejected his request for sex four times.
Quinton was charged with capital murder, but the judge declared a mistrial in October 2017. I was heartbroken. My whole family was. What was the doubt?
It’s not over though. The retrial began this week. I hope that Quinton is found guilty. It’s unfair that he can still talk to his sister, but all I have is that old voicemail about Frozen T-shirts. I listen to it over and over again, because I want to remember what her voice sounds like. I have to spray Jessica's perfume to remember what she smells like.
I know she’s up in heaven, but I don’t know that she’s at peace. It’s time to get justice for Jessica.
The crime and trial is the subject of a new five-part Oxygen special featuring Prince titled Unspeakable Crime: The Killing of Jessica Chambers airing Saturdays at 7pm EST.
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