PANOLA COUNTY, Miss. — The man accused of killing 19-year-old Jessica Chambers by dousing her in gasoline and setting her on fire on a rural north Mississippi road is getting an early release from prison.
Quinton Tellis is a name we’ve heard for several years. He’s gone through two trials in Panola County with both ending in a mistrial.
District Attorney John Champion isn’t sure if Tellis will be tried again.
“I haven’t made that decision yet. I kinda wanna see what happens in Louisiana. Once that’s resolved, I’ll sit down with the family again and then we will make a decision at that point,” he said.
When Champion, who represents several north Mississippi counties, refers to what’s happening in Louisiana it’s because Tellis is currently serving time there.
The 30-year-old only needed to serve 35 percent of his 10-year sentence for using an exchange student’s debit card after her 2015 stabbing death.
He’s scheduled to be released on February 18.
But his time in custody is far from over. He’s also accused of murdering that student in a different parish.
“There is a detainer on him from Monroe, Louisiana. So when he finishes his time he will be returned to Monroe where he will face charges for the murder in Monroe,” Champion said.
He says when Tellis was tried in Panola county, something called an “executive agreement” was worked out.
“When we brought him back here, and after the second trial, we had to return him on that executive agreement back to Louisiana.”
That executive agreement is no longer in place.
Now Champion says the options are either a new executive agreement, or wait until his case his finished in Louisiana and then do a Governor’s warrant.
We reached out to Tellis’ attorney for a comment but have not heard back.
