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Jessica Chambers exits her black vehicle at a gas station Dec. 6, 2014, in Courtland, Miss. The footage is about 90 minutes before first responders found Chambers and her car on fire about a mile from the gas station. Clay Chandler, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger
Jessica Chambers was set on fire on Herron Road outside Courtland, Miss., on Dec. 6, 2014.(Photo: Courtesy of Chambers family)
COURTLAND, Miss. — A teen who died a gruesome death at the hands of an unidentified assailant may have told investigators who her killer was before she died, family members said.
On Saturday night in rural Panola County, deputies responded to a call about a burning car and found Jessica Chambers of Courtland on fire walking down the road, gravely injured. She was taken to a Memphis hospital, where she died the next day.
A cell phone found near the scene of the crime on Herron Road west of Courtland, a town of 500 residents about 60 miles south of Memphis, is being checked for evidence, Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said.
Evidence on the phone should help establish a timeline of events Saturday, Assistant District Attorney Jay Hale said. Authorities are investigating the death as a homicide, and no one has been arrested.
Preliminary autopsy results revealed that the 19-year-old died from severe burns that covered 98% of her body, Panola County Coroner Gracie Gulledge said.
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"From what we were told, the only part of her body that wasn't burned was the bottom of her feet," said Amanda Prince, Chambers' sister.
Police told family members that someone was inside Chambers' car before the attack. The assailant poured accelerant down her throat and nose and set her on fire.
The scene Dec. 9, 2014, on Herron Road in Courtland, Miss., where Jessica Chambers' car burned three nights earlier.(Photo: Clay Chandler, The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger)
Officials aren't certain whether she was knocked out first or if she fought back, but she had a gash on her head, said Prince and Chambers' father, Ben Chambers. He works for the Sheriff's Office maintenance department.
"It takes my breath sometimes," Ben Chambers said. "It's hard to even breathe."
Before Jessica Chambers died, her father said she told investigators who committed the crime. Authorities would not discuss what she said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the Panola County Sheriff's Office are continuing the probe into the homicide.
Surveillance video from a gas station in Courtland shows Jessica Chambers in her last hours. She runs into someone she knows and is called off camera.
She can be seen from a different view returning alone.
In the background, a man in a striped shirt is seen filling up what looks like a gas can. He then walks away with it. Authorities reportedly also are looking into that video.
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"Jessica was a well-known person, loved by a lot of people," Prince said. "She was full of life. She was bright. She was a comedian. She was always cracking jokes and making funny faces, and she kept you laughing."
Jessica Chambers had just started a new job at Goody's Department Store in Batesville, the county seat about 5 miles north of Courtland, and she loved it, her sister said.
Jessica Chambers graduated in 2013 from South Panola High School in Batesville, Miss.(Photo: Courtesy of Chambers family)
"She didn't do a whole lot. She loved to be around friends, and she had some nieces and nephews she completely adored," Prince said.
Prince said family members can't think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Jessica Chambers. She didn't have a boyfriend, and they didn't know of anyone she was talking to on a romantic level.
The teenager had two older brothers, two older sisters and a younger sister. Allen Chambers, Jessica's eldest brother, died in a car crash in May 2012; her funeral is Saturday.
The Facebook group Justice for Jessica already has almost 40,000 likes since it was created Monday, and family members have gotten messages from as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand and Puerto Rico.
"It is so touching because that's my sister. You never think that anyone from New Zealand or Puerto Rico or Hawaii will ever know your name. But every time I turn around, I see her face. It's almost like she's here," Prince said. "It means so much to know they want the justice that I want for her."
Therese Apel also reports for The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.
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