“ANTHONY CHAMBERS sits in that chair before you, not because he is a victim, but because he got fed up with a man and stabbed him with a steak knife and took him from this earth,” a Suffolk County prosecutor told jurors this morning in an opening statement marking the first day of that man’s trial for the fatal stabbing of Edward “Red” Quiles.

Chambers, 52 (D.O.B. 1/15/57), a Boston man with no fixed address who frequently stayed at a friend’s Nassau Street studio apartment in Chinatown, is charged with a single count of manslaughter for Quiles’ homicide in the course of an argument on Feb. 10, 2008.

Assistant District Attorney Ian Polumbaum told the court that Chambers and Quiles were friends and drug users who both stayed at a mutual friend’s apartment between stays at local homeless shelters.

“Drugs are part of the case,” Polumbaum said. “Drugs explain why these two men joined together, then collided, ending in a homicide.”

On the evening of Feb. 9, Polumbaum said, Chambers and Quiles went out on the streets and purchased heroin before returning to the Nassau Street apartment. They spent the evening doing drugs before passing out early the next morning.

At about 1 p.m. on Feb. 10, the man who rented the apartment was awoken by the sounds of Chambers and Quiles fighting, Polumbaum said.

“Find my [expletive]. Where’s my [expletive],” Quiles allegedly yelled at Chambers. “Mr. Quiles was accusing Mr. Chambers of stealing drugs from him,” Polumbaum said.

Chambers allegedly replied, “I don’t have your stuff.”

At around this time, the tenant left the apartment. At about 1:30 p.m., the defendant called 911 and alleged that Quiles was “flipping out” and threatening him. He provided the address to a Boston Police dispatcher, who sent an officer to investigate a report of someone being threatened.

A few minutes later, the tenant returned to see the two men engaged in a physical scuffle.

“He saw arms flying and heard them fall on the futon frame,” Polumbaum said. “He saw Mr. Chambers end up on top of Mr. Quiles, and he heard Quiles say, ‘You stabbed me, you bastard.’”

The tenant ran from the apartment to the lobby, where he asked the concierge to call 911. At that moment, the defendant left the apartment and walked down the stairs, leaving a trail of Quiles’ blood in his wake and even passing a police officer who responded to the 911 call, Polumbaum said.

“I’m out of here, dude,” Chambers allegedly said to his friend, the tenant, before walking onto the street and turning onto Harrison Avenue.

The responding officer detained Chambers, whose hands were covered in blood, while additional responding officers made their way up to the studio apartment. Once inside, they found Quiles mortally wounded, face down on the bed covered in his own blood. The broken blade of a steak knife was on the floor, and the knife handle was found on a desk nearby, Polumbaum said.

A medical examiner determined that Quiles died as a result of a punctured carotid artery from a sharp object, causing him to bleed to death.

“Try to reconcile the evidence with the defendant’s own version of what happened,” Polumbaum told jurors. “Pay close attention to his claim that he did this killing in self defense.”

Chambers is represented by attorney John Sinsheimer. Proceedings are in courtroom 907 before Judge Regina Quinlan.