Testimony at Quinton Tillis trial: Dying woman named different person as attacker

Published 10:28 am Wednesday, September 26, 2018

BATESVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Prosecutors in Mississippi insist they’re trying the right man for an awful crime, the killing of a woman who was set on fire on a backroad.

But the first day of the murder retrial of Quinton Tellis was dominated by emergency workers who said Tuesday that a dying Jessica Chambers told them “Eric” had attacked her.
Prosecutors tried to deflect that testimony with a speech pathologist who said Chambers was burned too badly to speak clearly.

They’re promising evidence linking that will prove Tellis murdered Chambers, including cellphone locations, DNA on a keychain, Tellis’ own statements and a witness who may testify that she picked up Tellis that night near where Chambers was burned.

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Defense lawyers are urging jurors to trust the emergency workers testimony’ about the victim’s last word.