The trial of Henry Dinkins, the man accused of the murder of 10 year old Breasia Terrell continued Tuesday for a fourth day.

The first witness called was Amanda Kenney, a nurse practitioner, who collected samples from Henry Dinkins at Genesis West in Davenport. Kenney was only on the stand for a few minutes.

Aishia Lankford’s mother, Donita Gardner, took the stand and testified about Dinkins picking up Breasia and D.L. on July 9, 2020. Gardner talked about the day Breasia went missing and said that Aishia Lankford called her to say that Breasia was missing. Lankford sounded “like she wanted to cry,” said Gardner. Gardner babysat for Lankford’s children while Lankford was at work.

Jim Peters, a paramedic for about 30 years, testified next. He co-founded Samaritan Detection Dogs. During questioning from Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham, Peters described training detection dogs and how human bodies decompose.

In his testimony, Peters discussed a diagram showing where dogs searched at Credit Island in Davenport on July 11. He said Rocky the dog alerted and Peters also deployed JoJo, another dog, who alerted in about the same area. Peters also took dogs to an area on Schmidt Road in Davenport, with multiple vehicles. Officers told him a particular RV had been parked there, but wasn’t there on July 11. Rocky alerted at a trailer. JoJo moved toward the trailer and also alerted.

Peters said the trailer is older, predominantly white, with a horizontal stripe. The dogs alerted and the smaller dog tried to crawl under the trailer. Near the maroon Chevy Impala and an RV the dogs both alerted, according to Peters’ testimony. He said the alerts indicate there was human decomposition or blood in those areas.

When questioned by the defense, Peters testified that the trailer does not belong to Dinkins, but was in the same area as the RV. He said wind can carry molecules. He said they’re unable to tell whose remains are found or how long they have been there. Peters didn’t know about the ownership history of the vehicles.

After the lunch break, FBI Agent Eli McBride began giving his testimony. He is part of the Evidence Response Team and was called to come to Davenport either July 12 or 13, according to his testimony after questioning by Cunningham.

“There wasn’t much known at that point to us” except there was a 10 year old girl who was missing and had last been seen by her stepfather, McBride testified. He said he knew that the Davenport Police Department had gone to the RV and seized a machete. He also testified that three vehicles were searched – a 1980 motor home, a 2007 maroon Impala and a 2012 Chevy Camaro. The Impala had been searched for latent fingerprints on its exterior when McBride arrived, according to his reply to Cunningham’s questions.

Cunningham asked McBride if he found any items in the trunk that were “disturbing”.

“Yes,” he said. “One item was a black metal baseball bat and another was a hatchet.” He testified that there was also a sheath that might fit a machete. McBride testified that a sleeveless undershirt and a folding knife were found in the Camaro.

Davenport Police Lt. Jason Ellerbach took the stand late Tuesday afternoon. He testified about using Dinkins’ phone to trace his whereabouts. “The cell phone indicated that he may have been in the area of Clinton, Iowa, at a store,” he said.

Under questioning from defense attorney Chad Frese, Ellerbach said Davenport Police considered Dinkins to be a “person of interest” within 24 hours of Breasia’s disappearance, “that he was involved in one way or another.”

Court will reconvene at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

This is a breaking story and Local 4 will have updates as they occur.