Man indicted in teen's fiery 2014 death still awaiting trial

Therese Apel

The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger

Quinton Tellis gestures to his family July 15, 2016, as he is escorted out of the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Miss. Tellis has pleaded not guilty in the 2014 burning death Jessica Chambers of Courtland, Miss.

HERNANDO, Miss. — For a year, Quinton Tellis has lived in DeSoto County Jail, accused of setting a Courtland, Miss., teen on fire in her car, killing her.

Authorities won't say why he's being kept two counties away from where the crimes were committed, but the Panola County Jail might not be a comfortable place for a guy whose alleged crimes have opened up a Pandora's box of arrests and investigations into drugs and gang activity that still is ongoing in his home county.

And Jessica Chambers, the woman he's accused of killing, is the daughter of a man who works for the Panola County Sheriff's Department.

Chambers was found a little after 8 p.m. CT Dec. 6, 2014, on the outskirts in Courtland, about 60 miles south of Memphis. She was walking away from her ignited vehicle, herself in flames with burns over 98% of her body.

The 19-year-old was flown to a Memphis hospital, where she died hours later. Panola County Coroner Gracie Gulledge said the cause of the young woman's death was thermal injury, a forensic classification that means she died from her burns rather than other fire-related causes such as smoke inhalation.

Meanwhile, DeSoto County officials say they have had no incidents involving Tellis in the year he's been with them despite Mississippi Department of Corrections records that show Tellis in past incarcerations was written up for violations, including refusing to work, threatening staff, having disruptive behavior and using abusive language.

Authorities worked leads and chased the killer for 14 months after Chambers' death, ultimately arresting Tellis. The investigation that brought in local, state and federal agencies on personal, forensic and technological levels.

A team of investigators from the Panola County Sheriff's Department, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. attorney's office dug into Chambers' death. A lack of street chatter, possibly attributable to Tellis' solitary personality, made the case tougher to crack, causing much of the investigation to hinge on data collection.

On Feb. 23, 2016, authorities had a news conference to announce Tellis' indictment. It was an unforeseen development for many of the amateur sleuths who had begun to follow the case online because Tellis' name had not come up publicly during the investigation.

Initially, speculation swirled around whether the homicide could have been gang-related, and local gang leaders came out of the woodwork to assure authorities and the Chambers family they had nothing to do with it. Tellis appears to be a member of the Insane Vice Lords street gang, but officials have said that Chambers' death is most likely related their romantic links and not to any gang-related motivation.

But gangs did figure into the big picture that grew out of the search for justice for the former cheerleader. Ultimately, the depth of the investigation on every level shone light into some of the darkest corners of Panola County's crime scene, which the sheriff said is going to be integral in cleaning up his county in the long run.

"We’ve uncovered so much during this investigation that has led us to other crime, especially drug and gang activity," Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby said. "And that leads to prevention of murders and everything else. We're going after the bad people."

The most visible evidence of the trickle-down effect of the deep digging investigators did on the case is Operation Bite-Back, which led to the indictments of 17 suspected members of the Black Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords, and Sipp Mob street gangs on a variety of violations ranging from child endangerment, possession of stolen firearms, narcotics sales and felon in possession of a firearm to possession of counterfeit currency.

Those arrested were not connected to Chambers' death, but authorities were able to follow information gathered while interviewing more than 150 people and sorting through more than 20,000 phone records trying to find her killer.

Jessica Chambers, 19, of Courtland, Miss., was burned alive Dec. 6, 2014, and her killer remains at large.

That kind of momentum has continued, Darby said. And he credits the continuing support of the agencies with which his department formed a bond in the search for Chambers' killer.

"You've got to get out there and stay after it, and you have to actively investigate drugs and bad people instead of waiting on them to act," he said. "We're stronger and better than we were six years ago, not because I was elected but because of who works with us. We have good people working with us and for us."

But the task at hand stands: Tellis faces trial Oct. 9, three days after he turns 28 years old, and three years to the day since his last release from state prison custody.

Darby is confident that Tellis will be convicted.

"One hundred percent," Darby said. "We have remarkable, fascinating testimony to present. This is the most difficult case I’ve ever been associated with, and you get a satisfaction in knowing that looking back, this was an excellent investigation."

Tellis' lawyer, Alton Peterson, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Chambers' parents, Ben Chambers and Lisa Daugherty, once somewhat vocal, now keep their opinions, hopes and fears to themselves.

Despite their silence, visits to their social media pages show Jessica is never far from their minds. They marked her 22nd birthday Feb. 2, as they had grieved the two previous ones.

They spent another Christmas without her. Christmas was her favorite holiday, Daugherty has said.

After the indictment, they stopped talking to the media, saying it's best for the investigation. District Attorney John Champion of 17th Circuit Court agrees.

"Right now we’re just trying to make sure all the things are done the way they’re supposed to be done," he said. "We're not trying to put any more information out there than isn't already out there."

The prosecution has met all of its discovery requirements, Champion said. He's ready to go forward whenever the time comes.

It's likely that a jury will have to be drawn from outside Panola County because anyone who's not familiar in one way or another with the case could be impossible, officials said. Courtland has fewer than 500 residents; Panola County has about 34,000.

And the case has been the subject of not only local and state coverage, but several national news programs.

What is unclear at this point is where Tellis will ultimately end up if he's convicted.

He's charged with murder in Louisiana in the death of Meing-Chen Hsaio, 34, of Taiwan. But he hasn't been indicted in Hsaio's death, which court documents say was slow and painful.

She allegedly was tortured to death for her credit card personal-identification numbers.

That homicide allegedly took place July 29, and her body was found Aug. 8. As authorities were working the homicide scene, Tellis was celebrating his wedding to girlfriend Chikita Jackson.

He pleaded guilty to using Hsaio's credit cards May 9 and was sentenced as a habitual offender in Louisiana. A timeline on any further indictment or trial is not clear though one thing is.

"We're taking him first," Champion said.

Follow Therese Apel on Twitter: @TRex21

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