An Atlanta man will spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted Tuesday of brutally strangling a woman and placing her body in a plastic container, which he then dumped on the side of an interstate, according to prosecutors.
Jquantae Jester, 29, was found guilty of felony murder and other charges in the January 2022 killing of Myra Smith Parlier, 61, at her East Point home, where she sometimes provided him shelter, according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. He was sentenced to life without parole, plus 10 years.
“A woman was killed and discarded like trash by a person she had offered refuge to in her home,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in a news release Wednesday. “This was a gruesome murder by someone who showed no remorse, and I am relieved that he is being held accountable for his actions.”
Jester strangled Parlier at her home Jan. 14 and placed her body in the container to dispose of it. He then dumped the container on the side of I-75 near Lake Allatoona, where it was found by a passerby two days later, the DA’s office said.
On Feb. 25, Jester was arrested by East Point police on an outstanding burglary charge and was found to be in possession of methamphetamine, the DA’s office said. Police then found items belonging to the victim in a storage truck Jester was using, according to prosecutors.
“While being questioned about her items in his possession, Jester confessed to the murder but later recanted it,” the DA’s office said.
In court, evidence provided by prosecutors included fingerprints found on the plastic container and a bag he had placed over her head. Jester was also determined to have used Parlier’s EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) card after her death.
The state was also able to read a 2017 court transcript from another woman, who testified that Jester choked her during an alleged rape, prosecutors said. In the previous case, Jester was offered a false imprisonment plea, which he took, according to the DA’s office.
The jury also found Jester guilty of aggravated assault and concealing the death of another.
About the Author
