JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Monday, a murder trial focused on a junkyard, a landfill and the death of a pregnant teenager.
Jonathan Quiles is charged with murdering his niece Iyana Sawyer in 2018.
She was 16-years-old when she disappeared. Her body was never found, even though investigators searched a landfill.
Monday, pictures and video were shown from the automotive junkyard where the defendant worked.
That's the place prosecutors say he murdered his niece and got rid of her body in December 2018.
Prosecutors showed surveillance video Monday from Ace Pick A Part, a salvage and junkyard on Main Street where Quiles worked.
The video shows him coming and going in a red minivan. He is also seen driving a front loader on the day Sawyer disappeared as well as the day after.
Prosecutors say Quiles put the murdered teen into a dumpster which was eventually hauled off to an industrial debris landfill. Her body was never found.
Gary Lindros, one of the men who runs the junkyard, testified that Quiles drove into an area of the business that employees usually didn’t go into. And he did this at least twice in his own car, according to video and prosecutors.
As video played for the jury, Lindros was asked, "If he (Quiles) went straight, would he be going into that area that is not for employee parking?" Lindros answered, "Yes. He would. If that’s what happened. Yes." Lindros was later asked while on the stand and as more surveillance clips showed Quiles driving into an area of the junkyard facility, "Mr. Lindros, when the defendant drives to the exit, does he take a right where he normally should to leave the facility?" Lindros answered, "No."
The general manager of the Otis Road Landfill also testified.
Prosecutors say investigators found items at the Otis Road Landfill that were missing from Sawyer's room. High school textbooks and undergarments that are believed to be Sawyers were found at the landfill. The landfill is for construction debris.