A new witness came forward at the retrial of Quinton Tellis to testify that she picked up a young, black male hitching a ride near the scene of Jessica Chambers’s horrific burning death on the night of the 19-year-old’s murder.

The New York Post reports that Courtland, Mississippi, resident Sheryl Flowers took the stand at the retrial for Tellis, claiming that a young man flagged her down for a ride the night Jessica Chambers was killed.

Flowers reportedly testified that she saw the male hitchiker the night of December 6, 2014, and pulled over because she initially believed the young man might have been her nephew.

In a bizarre coincidence, the man reportedly told Flowers that he needed a ride to his aunt Julia Chambers’s home, because it had caught fire. Julia Chambers is not related to Jessica Chambers, but she is a distant relative of Quinton Tellis.

Julie Chambers also took the stand, confirming that her microwave had caught fire that night, and that firefighters responded to her home. But she said Tellis never appeared, and that on that date it had “been a while” since she had last seen him.

Flowers only reported the incident to authorities after Tellis’s first murder trial, which ended in a mistrial after a jury could not agree to a verdict. She reportedly said in court on Wednesday that she had failed to report the incident because “couldn’t remember the person” and “felt like it was irrelevant.”

The witness also said that she exchanged few word with the hitchhiker before dropping him off US 51 near the home of Julia Chambers.

Thursday marks the third day of testimony at the Jessica Chambers murder trial. Stay with CrimeOnline for continued coverage.