Jessica Chambers, 19, was discovered burning next to her automobile, which was also on fire, around 8:10 p.m. on December 6, 2014.
She had burns all over her body. A combustible substance was spilled all over her body, into her nose, and down her mouth. She died the next morning as a consequence of her injuries.
Quinton Tellis was charged with capital murder in Jessica’s death in February 2016. He’d already been convicted of burglary, narcotics possession, and escaping police. However, the criminal has yet to be identified and punished.
Jessica Chambers Murder Case Update
It’s been almost eight years since Jessica Chambers was murdered. However, she and her family have yet to receive justice.
The murder trial for the man accused of killing Chambers in Mississippi was postponed in Louisiana in March 2022. That implies a third trial for Chambers’ murder is still a possibility.
District Counsel Steve Tew reported that a defense attorney hired an expert to pinpoint the whereabouts of Tellis’ phone at the time Hsiao was slain in an attempt to undermine evidence.
First responders in Courtland, Mississippi got a report concerning a car fire on December 6, 2014.
They arrived on the scene to find a 2005 Kia Rio on fire and began attempting to extinguish the flames.
This call, however, became much more than a typical call when a young woman wearing just her panties and covered head to toe with burns approached them and requested assistance.
The woman was identified as the victim. They immediately focused their attention on the seriously burnt Chambers, who was flown by helicopter from the small, rural hamlet in Mississippi where she died the next morning.
Despite a suspect being tried twice, no one has been convicted of the crime, and it is considered unsolved.
Investigators interviewed nearly everyone who possibly had touched with Jessica. They even considered if her lover, who was in jail at the time of the murder, had ordered a hit on her.
That was later rejected. They also explored the possibility that Chambers had gotten herself into problems with a local gang. However, gang members have come out to deny any participation and to express their sympathies for Chambers’ family.
Was Quinton Tellis Found Guilty?
Eventually, the finger was placed at Quentin Tellis, a gang member who had been with Chambers the night she was murdered, according to phone records.
In 2017, Tellis was put on trial. The defense said that because Jessica Chambers stated that the offense was committed by Eric or Derrick, Tellis could not have done it.
The prosecution responded that Chambers’ condition would have made it difficult, if not impossible, for him to speak. They also claimed that when Chambers died, Tellis erased all of his correspondence with her.
The trial, as well as a second effort to convict Tellis in 2018, resulted in a hung jury. However, Tellis was accused in 2019 of the unrelated 2015 murder of University of Louisiana-Monroe graduate student Meing-Chen Hsaio, according to Investigation Discovery.
Hsiao was a recent graduate of the University of Louisiana Monroe when she was murdered at an apartment near campus. In February 2016, Tellis was listed as the principal suspect in Hsiao’s case, and a warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2016.
Tellis pled guilty in May 2016 to one count of illegal use of Hsiao’s access (debit) card. The plea was filed just before a jury trial on the charge, as well as one count of possession of a controlled dangerous drug with intent to distribute.
Tellis was sentenced to ten years in prison as a habitual offender.
The Killing Of Jessica Chambers & Verdict
Jessica Chambers grew up in Courtland, Mississippi, across the street from her grandmother, and just down the street from her father and stepmother. Her mother previously described her as “90 pounds on a good day.”
Chambers, like many other teens, had a rebellious streak and wasn’t hesitant to speak her thoughts. She once left her mother’s house for months because she didn’t approve of Jessica’s connection with her boyfriend.
Despite its small-town status, Courtland, Mississippi and the surrounding region have seen their share of violence and deadly gangs, and Chambers was no exception.
She’d also gotten in trouble with the authorities and sold narcotics on occasion(Grunge). Nonetheless, Jessica was well-regarded and, by all accounts, well-liked by almost everyone she knew, which made her murder all the more strange.
On the day of the murder, Jessica left home at about 5 p.m. on the night of her murder, informing her mother she was heading to a neighboring gas station.
Chambers was spotted at the gas station, according to surveillance video (Acton News 5). The footage shows Chambers filling gas, then walking toward the convenience store, waving to someone off-camera, and then approaching them.
Lisa, Jessica’s mother, called to check on her after she had been gone for two hours. She replied that she will be home shortly.
Investigators have laid out the first hour after Chambers went home, but much of that night and what transpired leading up to Chambers’ death is unclear.
The first firemen on the site observed Chambers’ car on fire and noticed Chambers heading toward them, seriously burnt. They cared for her as swiftly as they could and sought to get information from her.
Given her condition, she was unable to talk clearly, but multiple first responders said afterward that they believed she named Eric or Derrick when asked who had assaulted her.