Therese Apel

The Clarion-Ledger

A Panola County native suspected in another homicide has been indicted in the December 2014 burning death of Courtland teen Jessica Chambers.

Quinton Tellis, 27, originally of Courtland, was indicted on capital murder charges by a special grand jury in Panola County as he sat in the Ouachita Parish Jail in Monroe, Louisiana, where he is being held on charges connected to the August death of a University of Louisiana Monroe exchange student.

Tellis is believed to have been the last person to have been with Chambers the night she was killed. The two allegedly had a relationship in the weeks leading up to her death, officials said.

While Chambers and Tellis were eight years apart in age, they both went to South Panola High School and both grew up in the same neighborhood.

A press conference in Panola County is planned for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Chambers suspect's social posts tie to gang affiliation

Tellis was living in Monroe with his new wife when he was arrested by Monroe Police Department and charged with crimes connected to the stabbing death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, 34, of Taiwan. Local media reports say she had been missing for more than a week when her body was found Aug. 8. She had been stabbed to death in her apartment.

Police said Hsiao's homicide appeared to be very personal.

Tellis has not been charged with Hsiao's murder, but according to jail records, he has been charged with three counts of unauthorized use of an access card and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

The police report says Tellis allegedly used a Chase Bank debit card belonging to Hsiao on Aug. 7 at around 11 p.m. On that transaction, he charged $.07. When it was used again on Aug. 18, it was allegedly used at 10:35 p.m. for $500 and again at 3:04 a.m. for another $500. Police said there were ATM surveillance photos of Tellis using the card, and after being Mirandized, he allegedly admitted to using the debit card on all three occasions.

ADuring a search at his house, authorities found a quarter pound of marijuana in a bedroom. The report says the drugs were packaged for sale.

According to Tellis' Facebook page, he married his fiancee on or around Aug. 8, the day Hsiao's body was found.

Tellis has served time for residential burglary and fleeing law enforcement charges out of Panola County.

MDOC records show Tellis was sentenced in January 2010 for residential burglary and fleeing a law enforcement officer. He received five years for the burglary conviction and five years' probation for the other crime. He was released on probation that August, but it was subsequently revoked. He was sentenced again in December 2011 for residential burglary and received four years.

Tellis was also sentenced in February 2012 for residential burglary and received three years to serve and five years' probation. He was released on probation again in October 2014 and subsequently absconded supervision in August 2015.

In May 2011, Tellis had a case for simple assault and domestic violence-simple dismissed after affiants Laketer Harrell and Mary Evans failed to appear to prosecute. He had pleaded not guilty to charges of disturbance of a family, records show.

Later that summer, in July, Tellis was referred to a grand jury for burglary and grand larceny.

While Tellis was incarcerated, MDOC records show various violations, including refusing to work, and staff said he made threatening statements toward them in 2014.

He also received three rules violations while housed at Walnut Grove Correctional Facility: Being in a restricted or unauthorized area, disruptive behavior or disorderly conduct, and abusive, disrespectful language.

When he was booked in January 2012 after his probation was revoked, he was caught with two cellphone chargers in June 2013 while housed at Holmes County Correctional Facility.

In September 2013 Tellis was caught with a Green Dot number while housed at Parchman.