Who Killed Jessica Starr? The Unsolved Murder That Still Haunts Elkhart | Forensic Files

Hi, crime junkies. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers, [music] and this week, Britt and I are going to
divide and conquer because two Indiana cases recently came across my desk that are both pretty recent and both in need
of some eyes and ears. So, you're going to get two episodes this week. One for me today and one from Britt on
Wednesday. And if you follow me on social, you'll know I was recently back near [music] my hometown scoping out an
area in Elcart, Indiana that was once a crime scene because I just needed to see
it for [music] myself. How did someone lay and wait, blitz attack a young woman, then drag her to the side of her
trailer and cut her [music] from ear to ear without a single witness seeing? It didn't seem possible. And how have
police not tracked down her killer [music] after 14 years? Well, being at the scene and doing some
digging of our own has made it pretty clear that the police bungled the investigation. And it might be up to all
of us now to [music] help the family get justice. And we might be close because our digging led to someone who said they
know what happened. And based on who they're connected to, they could [music] be telling the truth. This is the story
of Jessica Star. 911. Where's your emergency? Um, it's in Elkart, Indiana, uh, Melody
Lake. I was sitting on the couch and uh one of my mom's friends was getting home
from work, one of her roommates and heard a run up the uh deck and and was screaming and then she sounded like she
got like her a handcuffed over her mouth and she got pulled away. We need somebody, I guess, to be sent here and
led away. That was part of a call that an 11-year-old named Jeff made to dispatchers just after 11:30 p.m. on
August 8th, 2011 from inside his trailer. He'd been home with his mom and little brother, expecting his mom's
roommate and coworker, Jessica [music] Star, to be coming home any minute like any other normal night. But he's pretty
sure that he just heard her getting attacked in front of their home. And now, having called the police, he is
staring out the open front door into the pitch black night, watching his mom call
for Jessica from the front porch with her gun in hand, afraid that someone might still be out there. But it is now
completely silent. They can see Jessica's two-door Pontiac parked close to their front porch in front of the
house, but the driver's side door is wide open. Just then, Jeff and his mom, Terry, heard this rustling sound [music]
at the side of the house. Almost like someone was running off. But her children's safety was her first
priority. Terry stays on the porch, gun in hand, waiting for police to arrive. [music] And thank God, it's not long.
Police cars pull down the dark road, and as soon as their cars are in park, cops
are scouring the property. And it's when they walk to the side of the house, the
side where Jeff and Terry heard that rustling, that's when they find Jessica, and it's bad. She's got bruises on her
arms. Her throat has been cut and she'd been stabbed. So, by the time they get to her, it's too late. She's already
gone. Police are baffled by the brazen attack. And the fact that there were witnesses, I mean, in the house that she
was headed towards makes it all the more confounding, but also promising for the
now homicide investigation. So, police go to Jeff like, tell us everything you saw and heard. He told us recently what
he shared with them 14 years ago. He said that he was laying in the living room with his brother waiting for
Jessica to get home. He's on his Game Boy when he hears this noise by the front door. Now, all these years later,
he says he can't exactly remember what that noise was, but he got up and looked out this little window at the top of the
front door, except he couldn't see anything. It was like completely dark. Now, at the time, it didn't occur to him
that it shouldn't have been pitch [music] black because his mom always left the porch light on. But young boy,
oblivious to that kind of detail, he just went back to lie down and kept playing his game. Except that didn't
last long. Soon after he started hearing screaming and not just any screaming. I
mean this was primal guttural screaming coming from somewhere in the front yard.
At first he thought it might be some sort of animal like cats fighting before he had that chilling realization that it
was Jessica. And whatever happened next happened very quickly like within minutes. Jeff says that it sounded to
him like Jessica made it to the front porch, but someone put their hand over her mouth to muffle her screams and
dragged her away. Once the screaming stopped, Jeff says that he was almost in shock for like a couple of seconds, but
when he snapped out of it, he snuck to his mom's room to tell her what was happening. Now, she's sound asleep at
the time, and from there, the loud fan that she kept running likely was drowning out all the noise. But any
parent knows that a panicked shake from your child will jolt you right awake. So
that's when she told Jeff to bring her her gun and call [music] police. Based on Jeff's story and what police see in
front of them, Jessica's immediate family believe that police built out this [music] theory. Jessica's car is
parked to the right of the house, door a jar, and police see that there are groceries in the back seat. So, it looks
like Jessica got home and parked and maybe was about to take the groceries out when she's attacked. I mean, there's
even fresh mud that's kicked up on the side of that open door. So, it looks like there was a struggle, but what they
don't see there is any blood. The cut that Jessica suffered to her throat would have been super bloody. So, that
obviously didn't happen at the car, which means that they likely would have had to incapacitate her in some other
way, either just by overpowering her and grabbing her or with a weapon. And they
actually think it's probably option B because of the extensive bruising that she had to her arms. And laying in the
yard close to her body, they actually find a baseball bat-siz branch. And all of this had to have been premeditated.
The branch likely came from a brush pile at the back of the trailer, so a weapon
was picked beforehand. Not to mention, the killer obviously had a knife on them, which they did not
leave behind like this branch. And then just off to the right, if you're looking
at the trailer straight on, they see an area where some of the grass is like stamped down like someone was almost
like crouching there for a while. But from the street, Jessica probably wouldn't have been able to see someone
waiting for her if they were tucked into the brush enough. And then finally, there's that sound that Jeff first
[music] heard. It turns out the reason the porch was so dark when Jeff looked out the window that first time was
because the porch light bulb was missing. Now, Terry was sure that the light had been on when she went to bed
that night. So likely the first sound that Jeff heard was either someone tall enough unscrewing the bulb and like just
being loud about it or someone shorter maybe with the help of something or someone like being hoisted up to remove
it. So whoever this is, they got their weapons, they made sure it was dark and then they laid in wait for Jessica. They
blitz attacked her at her car and from Jeff's account, it sounds like she tried to run up to the front door and she
screamed for help, but they got a hold of her and dragged her off the porch to the side of the house where they swiftly
and thoughtlessly slaughtered her. And then they took off into the night with just the knife and the porch's light
bulb. They left everything else, including Jessica's purse, which leads [music] me and Jessica's family to
believe that this wasn't a random robbery. Jessica was targeted. They knew her routine, where and when she lived,
when she'd be coming home, where she would park when she did. This was about killing her. So, it was now going to be
about finding who would have motive for that. Except if physical evidence was the way to do that. Police dropped the
ball right from the beginning. Jessica's family told us that when they showed up outside the trailer the very
next evening for a candlelight vigil, Jessica's car was still just sitting there. Police hadn't taken it. They
hadn't moved it. Hadn't even taped it off. In fact, most of the scene isn't taped off. So, of course, as people are
grieving, they're like putting their candles on her car. They're walking all over the yard. And I mean, to no fault
of their own, like, by the way, because how would they know not to go anywhere or touch anything if the police in
charge don't tell you not to? It's not a citizen's job to collect and preserve [music] evidence. They're trusting the
police to do that. Now, did they do that at all? Did they process anything the first night? Maybe. I can't tell you
because the police wouldn't talk to us for this episode [music] and they denied our foyer request as well. But in
talking to Jessica's family, they have their doubts whether the car was even fingerprinted [music]
because I mean, you would usually tow the car if it's part of an investigation, but her family told us
that they never even moved the car from where Jessica parked it. And when her family got it back a few days after her
death, they told us that they didn't see any fingerprint dust or any evidence that they had done any real processing
of the vehicle. But that's just the start of their many complaints about how Elcart County Sheriff's Office seemed to
just not care about finding Jessica's killer. From their perspective, it seems like police just leave a bunch of
potential evidence behind, [music] like blood on the ground where Jessica was found or possible footprints by her
car where that mud was kicked up. Jessica's family even mentioned a handprint on the top of the car,
although they clarified that they aren't sure if it was from the attack or if it
was there before, but worth checking. I think Jessica's dad also doesn't think that they asked neighbors for any camera
footage or from the grocery store that she was working at before she went home. I mean, it's basic stuff that just
doesn't seem like it was done. And even though we couldn't get the files, you might think, "Oh, well, Ashley, you guys
talked to the family. Surely the police at least told them what was or wasn't done." Nope. According to Jessica's
family, police weren't keeping the family updated. So, they're assuming the worst. Now, I grew up right around here.
Elcart is kind of a small town. People talk. What's real? What's rumors? You never really know. But Jeff told our
reporter that he thinks he remembers hearing something about police getting DNA from under Jessica's fingernails,
which makes sense because after her autopsy, they said her arm was broken. And that combined with the bruising
makes me think that she fought like hell. But if they did get something, they have never spoken out publicly and
said that. So, is there a DNA profile? Was it good enough for Cotus? Was it ever compared to anyone? Specifically,
was it ever compared to Jessica's ex? Because immediately, that is who her family became suspicious of,
32-year-old Tavvarz Browning, who everyone calls BA. Bae was actually the reason Jessica was
living with Terry in the first place. They had dated for a few years. They had been living together, but they broke up
a couple of months before this in April. And then Terry offered Jessica a place to stay while she like got back on her
feet. Now, everyone has something to say about BA, specifically about how tumultuous their relationship was. I
mean, her family and friends told us that they never saw or heard of any physical abuse from him towards Jessica,
but he was allegedly a verbal and emotional abuser. And according to Jessica's friends, after he and Jessica
broke up, he started stalking her. He even showed up at her work. Now, her co-workers were aware and they didn't
let her leave or walk to her car without someone else with her. One of her friends told us that there had been talk
of a restraining order at some [music] point, but she doesn't think Jessica actually got one. And I think that's
correct because we couldn't find record of one with local courts. Now, BA is a drug dealer with a history of battery
charges, although those battery charges were from years before he and Jessica even dated. And he was only ever
convicted of two of those charges, one in 1998 and one in 1999. [music] But the timing of what happened to
Jessica stands out to me. I mean, not only is leaving an abusive relationship one of the most dangerous times for a
victim, but also Jessica just started seeing someone new. So maybe that's motive.
But here's the thing. According to Jessica's family, police told them that they went to Ba's home the night that
Jessica was killed because I mean that's how quick they were hearing about him. And when they arrived, he was in bed
with another woman and looked like he had just woken up. Based on Jessica's brother's recollection, he thinks that
detectives assume he wouldn't have been able to get back to wherever he was staying and clean up and stuff before
police got there that night. Although, honestly, I'm a little skeptical about this. I'm not sure exactly how long it
was between when the murder took place and when police turned up at Ba's door. But police likely have the details that
we are lacking. And based on what they have and know, they quickly rule him out. And maybe the other thing that they
have is DNA. And maybe they know that the profile they have isn't a match to him. To me, that would be worth saying
publicly, but they [music] haven't. So, I'm not making any assumptions. They very well could have just ruled him out
based on him being home. There's also a world where he's involved directly or [music] indirectly, but didn't actually
do it. Jessica's family laid out a couple of scenarios [music] for me. Their thinking is that if it wasn't Bae,
he may have orchestrated it, or someone may have killed Jessica in order to hurt
him. Despite being a smalltime drug dealer, Jessica's family told us that he had this way of luring people into his
web and manipulating those around him. So maybe he ticked someone off or got on someone's bad side enough to where they
killed Jessica to get back at him. I mean, he was clearly still attached to Jessica in some way. And maybe someone
else knew that. Now, to his credit, the one thing Jessica's family does say is that he was absolutely distraught
[music] when she died. So if he was involved, it actually makes way more sense to them
that this was someone else who carried it out. And really, that's even more based on what they know about the
attack. They don't think that BA would have needed a tree branch to take [music] Jessica down. I mean, he's
pretty tall and she's on the shorter side, so they think his bare hands would have been enough. You use the tree
branch if you need help overpowering her. Say if you were smaller, physically weaker,
maybe a woman around Jessica's same size, which makes something a neighbor kid heard the night of Jessica's murder all
the more interesting. When police interviewed neighbors, one 17-year-old kid in the home across the street did
remember hearing something that night. He claims he heard screaming and then after he heard a woman's voice saying,
"Well, we got to get out of here." Now, in the moment, his brain was trying to put what he was hearing into context of
his normal life. So, he thought that may have been someone calling for their dog,
but he didn't see anything. Now, this is super interesting because there is a group of women in Jessica's orbit who
her family learned about within a few months after her death. You see, Jessica actually had two jobs when she was
killed. The first was at a grocery store, and the second was at a local factory. And Jessica's dad hears that
some of the women she worked with at the factory ran in [music] the same circles
as BA. Now, they weren't happy that she'd broken up with him. Allegedly, they told her that she needed to go back
to her man, and it wasn't right that she'd left him. Now, the thing is, I don't know if police ever looked into
this group of women. Despite Jessica's family reporting all of this to them, it's one of the questions I wanted to
ask them most if they would have agreed to talk to us. If they didn't look into this, it's probably because they
directed their attention to more obvious suspects like this guy named Josh. And listen,
it's for good reason that they looked at him early on. Even if the incident that
makes him so suspicious happened nearly a decade ago, [music] it is still horrific.
So, according to Jessica's brother and sister-in-law, this guy Josh went to high school with Jessica back in 2001
when she was 18, and he was really into her, but she wasn't into him, which apparently pissed him off. So, one
morning before school, he came to her house, grabbed a tire iron out of her garage, and beat her with it while also
allegedly attempting to sexually assault her. Now, he got caught that very day because dude literally went to school
with her blood still on his hoodie and he served almost 3 years for that. But as unhinged as this man is, police end
up finding out that he was in Michigan at the time that Jessica was killed. So, they rule him off the list, too. But the
list of potential suspects keeps growing the more they learn about Jessica. Not because she was into anything bad. Quite
the opposite, actually. She took every bad thing that happened to her and used it as a drive to do good. Her family
told us that she had worked as a legal assistant in the prosecutor's office shortly before her murder, and she
sometimes stepped in as a liaison for victims of domestic violence, [snorts] which can be a dangerous position. So,
[music] I mean, I kind of wondered like, oh, what if she got involved in a case where someone else's abusive partner
would want to retaliate against her? So, I had our team reach out to the former prosecutor who Jessica worked under, but
unfortunately, he doesn't remember any cases that she would have helped out with where that could have been a
concern. I mean, he's familiar with Jessica's case, obviously, and in his opinion, that's not a likely scenario.
He said based on what he knows, he thinks it likely would have been someone close to Jessica.
And so, we're right back to where we started. Over the years, without anywhere to place blame, people just go
looking for it. And many times, it's fallen on Terry. I mean, some of Jessica's friends can't help but wonder
if Terry could know more than she's saying. They also don't like that Terry didn't go looking for Jessica when she
went out onto the porch with her gun. But let me stop you right there. Like, first of all, fight, flight, freeze. You
don't know till you're in it. I mean, the fact that she's even on the porch with her gun to me is a lot. [music] and
she is a mom with two little kids in the house. I don't blame her for not wanting
to leave the doorway open when there is a mystery asalent outside. [music] And those are the same feelings that
Jessica's family shares. They understand how Jessica's friends might find that suspicious, but they don't think that
Terry had anything to do with this. And Terry herself also denies knowing more than she's let on. But speaking of
Terry, she actually has her own theories. And she gave me something that I was desperate for, the name of a
woman, because I can't get over that female voice saying, "We ought to get out of here." She says that briefly
while Jessica was living with her, [music] they had another roommate, Anna. She was only there a hot second cuz
Terry had to kick her out because she wasn't following house rules, doing things like inviting a guy over without
permission. And according to Terry, Anna blamed Jessica for her getting kicked out. And I'm not sure why. Maybe Jessica
was the one who told Terry that this stuff was happening. Or maybe she was just feeling replaced. Or maybe Jessica
was just a great example of following the rules and made a glaring example of what a bad roommate she was. Who knows?
But Terry told our team that she's suspicious of Anna because of one really specific reason. Anna would have known
that Terry slept with that industrialsized fan to block out noise, which would have prevented her from
hearing anything. Now, we asked Jessica's family what they thought of Terry's theory, but they don't really
buy it. Still, our team connected with Anna just to get her take. And not only did she deny having anything to do with
Jessica's death, she actually gave us a whole new story that sent me spiraling. Anna told us that this guy she was
dating, who by the way also ran in the same circles as BA, this guy assaulted her sometime after Jessica's homicide.
And during this assault, he threatened her with a knife and allegedly said, quote, "Do you want to end up like
Jess?" Now, I had all the questions after learning this. Like, did he just say this because he knew what happened
to Jessica? Like specifically how she died? I mean, her cause of death isn't a secret, so it's very likely that he knew
she was killed with a knife. Or did he maybe know more than he was letting on? Did he have more insight into what
happened? Now, we've tried to confirm any part of this with other people, and in doing so, we talked to some of
Jessica's friends, but they couldn't corroborate this threat. To me, it would still be worth looking into, as are the
women at the factory, especially when it seems like police don't have anything else. The people in Elcart are still
talking about Jessica's homicide to this day, and her friends and family are keeping their ears to the ground for any
chatter, turning over any rumors that they hear to police. Because, like any good crime junkie knows, people don't
keep secrets forever. And actually, the most recent tip that they turned over was just from like a year and a half
ago. That's when one of Jessica's loved ones had a runin with this woman who also happens to run in the same circles
as BA. And she was going around claiming that she knew who did it. So again, all
the questions. Does she actually know more? Is she just saying that to get attention or to make people mad? We've
been trying to get in touch with this woman to follow up on these claims. And I know all of this has been reported to
the police, but no one knows if they've done anything with this. So many rumors still seem to revolve around Ba, but
police have never connected him to this. Ba is currently serving a pretty hefty sentence for dealing cocaine. We reached
out to Bay for comment, and he denies having anything to do with Jessica's death. He also denies stalking and
verbally or emotionally abusing her. Jessica's family worries that they're never going to be able to tie anyone to
the crime because of how royally they think Elcarp County Sheriff's Office screwed up the investigation from the
start. They even say that police ghost them when they ask for updates, which I am sure feels terrible when all you want
is answers without police communicating with them. Jessica's family is still waiting for justice. Her brother said
that whoever did this didn't just kill Jessica, they killed the whole family. I mean, Jessica's mother died just a month
after her from health complications compounded by grief, [music] and her father spent the rest of his life
searching for answers. I mean, he died just earlier this year. Her brother told us that their [music] dad filled
notebooks upon notebooks of theories about who could have killed his daughter and notes on his own investigation.
Unfortunately, he'd like isolated himself after her death, so he didn't share much. And even when they got his
books after he died, they were like in pretty bad shape and nothing really useful came from them. Listen, her
family wants Jessica to be remembered as the type of person who used the bad things that happened to her for good.
Like how she helped victims of domestic violence at work. She would tell people that they could survive what was
happening to them because she had. She even kept a photo of her 18-year-old self in her desk to show people what
they would come back from. and she would have wanted her death to be used for good, too. Her family honored her that
way by organizing a donation drive for a local women's shelter that she'd helped
with as a part of her work at the prosecutor's office. They ended up filling like three to four semi-truck
trailers full of donations in her honor. And we at Audiochuck have made a donation to that same women's shelter in
her honor as well. It's called Safe Haven Elcart County. We're going to link to that in the show notes if you want to
join us. Jessica's killer could still be out there and someone knows something. If you have any information about the
death of Jessica Star, you can submit tips [music] to us at tipsaudio.com. You can also contact the Elcart County
Sheriff's Office, and we're going to have their contact information in our show notes. You can find all the source
material for this episode on our website, [music] crimejunkkey.com. And if you want to listen to this
episode and all of our episodes completely adfree, be sure to join our fan club. You'll also get early access
to new episodes [music] every week. You can follow us on Instagram at CrimeJunk Podcast. And we will be back next week
with a brand new episode.

On August 8, 2011, 26-year-old Jessica Starr was murdered outside her trailer on Melody Lane in Elkhart, Indiana. Just after 11:30 p.m., an 11-year-old neighbor called 911 after hearing her screams. Minutes later, authorities found Jessica’s body beside the trailer—she had been beaten, stabbed, and her throat slashed. Investigators quickly realized this was no random crime. Jessica’s porch light had been unscrewed, a tree branch was used to overpower her, and evidence suggested someone had been lying in wait. Her groceries and purse were left behind, pointing to a targeted attack, not a robbery. But from the start, the case was mishandled. Police left her car at the scene during a vigil, failed to secure the area, and may not have processed key evidence like footprints, blood, or potential DNA.

Suspicions circled around her ex-boyfriend, Tavares “Bay” Browning, known for his controlling behavior and criminal past, but he was quickly ruled out. Others in her orbit, including coworkers tied to Bay, a former roommate, and even a man who had attacked Jessica years earlier, were considered, but no charges were ever filed. Jessica is remembered for her resilience. She worked as a legal assistant, supporting victims of domestic violence, and turned her own struggles into a way to help others. Her family honored her by organizing donation drives for the Elkhart County Women’s Shelter, filling trucks with supplies in her name. If you have any information on this case, please contact the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department at 574-891-2300.

Key Episode Moments 0:00 - 1:19 — Intro 1:20 - 3:13 — 911 Call & Discovery 3:14 - 5:03 — Blitz Attack 5:04 - 6:52 — Crime Scene Breakdown 6:53 - 8:31 — Investigation 8:32 - 10:13 — Evidence Handling Questions 10:14 - 11:56 — Ex-Boyfriend “Bay” 11:57 - 14:10 — Bay Ruled Out 14:11 - 15:53 — Retaliation Theory 15:54 - 17:09 — Female Voice Witness 17:10 - 18:23 — Factory Coworkers 18:24 - 19:48 — Past Attacker (Josh) 19:49 - 21:07 — Roommate Anna 21:08 - 22:10 — “Do You Want to End Up Like Jess” 22:11 - 23:30 — Recent Rumors & New Tip 23:31 - 26:30 — Outro --------

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses Jessica Star's murder, police investigation failures, and potential suspects, highlighting ongoing family efforts for justice.

Key points

The Attack on Jessica Star. Jessica Star was brutally attacked outside her home, leaving her family and police baffled.
Theories on Jessica's Murder. Multiple suspects emerge as Jessica's family investigates her past relationships and connections.
Police Investigation Missteps. Jessica's family believes the police bungled the investigation from the start.
A Chilling Threat. Anna reveals a terrifying threat made by a man she dated after Jessica's death.
Jessica's Family's Struggle for Justice. Jessica's family feels the police have failed them in the investigation.
Honoring Jessica's Legacy. Jessica's family organizes a donation drive in her memory, filling several trailers.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

How did someone lay and wait, blitz attack a young woman?

Ashley reflects on the brutality of the crime.

0:35WatchOct 15, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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