Woman sentenced for trying to profit from Chambers death

A Blue Springs woman is going to prison for attempting to profit from the slaying of Panola County teenager Jessica Chambers.

Janet Lee Posey, 41, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of false pretense before Union County Circuit Judge John A. Gregory, according to a news release issued by Attorney General Jim Hood.

Posey used the slaying of  Chambers, 19, to fraudulently collect donations, Hood said.

Chambers was set on fire in December 2014, discovered walking down the road in flames. Burns covered 98 percent of her body. She died the next day.

Quinton Tellis, 28, has been charged with capital murder in Chamber's death.

Posey was arrested in December 2014 after an investigation revealed she had started a fraudulent internet scam and attempted to collect donations for the Chamber's family without their consent or knowledge.

“This defendant posed as a family member of the victim and created a Facebook page in an attempt to convince people to donate money to her, where she intended to take it for her own personal use,” Attorney General Hood said in the release. “Her acts are reprehensible. Fortunately, we caught her before she raised any money. We thank Judge Gregory for his strong sentence, and I would like to thank Sheriff Jimmy Edwards and his deputies for their dedication and assistance on this case.”

Posey was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three of those years suspended, leaving seven years to serve. She was ordered to serve three years of post-release supervision and pay $1,433 in court costs.

The case was investigated by Miller Faulk and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Ward of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

Contact Sarah Fowler at sfowler@gannett.com or 601-961-7303. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.