WREG.com

Suspect in Jessica Chambers case identified

PANOLA COUNTY, Miss. –WREG has just confirmed an indictment has been returned in the Jessica Chambers case.

WREG’s Jessica Gertler spoke with Chambers’ father who confirmed he was aware of the indictment.

The suspect, Quinton Tellis, is in custody in Louisiana.

A source close to Jessica told WREG she and Tellis dated on and off again.

He was arrested there after he was caught with the ATM card of another murder victim.

The victim was reportedly a University of Louisiana Monroe exchange student.

Sources told WREG he is considered a suspect in that Louisiana murder case.

On Wednesday, the District Attorney and Panola County Investigators will be holding a news conference on Wednesday to update the public.

The news conference is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. and we will bring you the latest information once we learn more.

Chambers was doused in gasoline and set on fire on a rural road in Panola County.

Around 98% of her body was burned.

She later died from her injuries.

District Attorney John Champion said investigators have determined Chambers was mostly at home up until about 5 p.m. the day of the murder.

He said she left home and headed to a gas station in Courtland shortly before 6 p.m. after she received a phone call from a friend.

The teen was captured on surveillance video at a gas station filling up her car.

Authorities were able to determine Chambers was then in the area of Highway 6’s first set of stop lights, coming into Batesville, a town about five miles away, and was there for 10 to 15 minutes.

The D.A. said he cannot elaborate further about where she was specifically.

Chambers was back in Courtland around 6:30 p.m., he said.

What happened during the next hour or so is unclear.

A passing motorist found the 19-year-old on the side of the road, lying near her burning Kia Rio sedan just before 8:15 p.m. that night.

Champion said investigators believe Chambers was at the murder scene as early as 7:31 p.m.

The teen was still alive when rescue workers responded.

Champion has said Chambers spoke to rescue workers, but what she said has not been revealed.

 

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