“Jessica Chambers: An ID Murder Mystery” is a two-hour special that tells the story of how 19-year-old Jessica Chambers died horribly on December 6, 2014, when she was burned alive in her car in the middle of a Mississippi street.
It also talks about how her fight for justice has been going on for a long time and is still going on, and how she told first responders that someone named “Eric” was to blame. Quinton Tellis, who was in a relationship with Jessica at the time, was eventually charged and arrested for her murder. He was not Eric.
Who Is Quinton Tellis?
Quinton Tellis of Courtland, Mississippi, met Jessica Chambers for the first time when he was 26 years old, in November 2014. After a short talk, they swapped phone numbers and started texting, calling, and seeing each other as much as possible. They just talked to each other all the time. From December 3 to December 6, phone records show that Quinton, who had at least two other girlfriends, texted Jessica at least three times about having sex. Each time, Jessica said something like, “Oh, Lord, can’t.” Even so, they kept getting together.
Quinton has said that he and Jessica had dinner at a Taco Bell in Batesville on December 6, 2014, the day Jessica died. After dinner, they went back to Courtland, to his place, where they had their first sexual encounter and smoked pot in her car. About an hour later, Jessica’s burning body was found on the side of Herron Road. Quinton was the main suspect because, other than a short voicemail, he never tried to get in touch with Jessica again. He also deleted all of her texts, calls, and contact information from his phone in the days that followed and left some DNA behind.
Where Is Quinton Tellis Now?
Quinton Tellis’ DNA was found in Jessica’s car, and his fingerprint was on her car keys. This seemed like enough evidence for the grand jury to indict him for capital murder in February 2016, which he quickly denied. In October 2017, Quinton went to court for the first time. But in the end, the jury couldn’t agree on whether Quinton was guilty or not guilty of killing Jessica. This is called a “hung jury.”
After that, the DA’s office said that they would bring the case against Quinton again. But in October 2018, the same thing happened: there was no clear winner, so there was another mistrial. Quinton Tellis is in jail at the Ouachita Correctional Center in Monroe for a crime that has nothing to do with this case. He is accused of killing an international student at the University of Louisiana-Monroe named Ming-Chen Hsiao in August 2015. Hsiao was stabbed more than 30 times.
Quinton pleaded guilty in May 2016 to one count of using Ming-access Chen’s card without her permission. He was given 10 years in prison because he was a repeat offender. But he will soon go to court in Louisiana and be tried for killing her, too. If Quinton is found guilty there, and if the DA’s office in Mississippi decides to try him a third time for Jessica’s death, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the chance of getting out.
