Jessica Chambers
Photo courtesy Lisa Daugherty
A grand jury has indicted a suspect in the death of Jessica Chambers, a young woman whose brutal murder in a small Mississippi town inspired a legion of amateur detectives to try in vain to solve her case, several local outlets reported Tuesday.
Details on the reported indictment in the case were scant on Tuesday night, but WREG and WMC reported a person was in custody.
The offices of Panola County Sheriff Dennis Darby and District Attorney John Champion, which have led the investigation, declined to comment on the reported indictment except to say officials had planned a press conference for Wednesday morning. Chambers’ mother and several members of her family did not return requests for comment from BuzzFeed News.
Chambers was burned alive in her car in December of 2014, when she was 19 years old. Her gruesome death — and her mysterious last words: “Eric did this to me” — shook the 500 inhabitants of her hometown of Courtland, in the northwestern corner of Mississippi.
Yellow crime scene tape marks the location where Jessica Chambers was found on Dec. 10, 2014 in Courtland, Miss.
Adrian Sainz / AP
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agents interviewed more than 130 people, but were unable to find an explanation for her death. But that didn't stop tens of thousands of strangers around the world from trying to solve the mystery on the internet.
As BuzzFeed News documented last year, Chambers’ family and friends have received countless messages from people who have become convinced that they know what happened to the young woman.
Local media identified the suspect indicted in her death as 27-year-old Quinton Verdell Tellis, who has since last summer been in custody in Louisiana in an unrelated case. Jail officials in Louisiana confirmed to BuzzFeed News that authorities from Panola County, Mississippi had on Tuesday brought a new accusation against Tellis of being a fugitive from justice.
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office
Tellis was arrested by Monroe, Louisiana police officers on Aug. 20 on suspicion of unlawful use of a credit card. The credit card belonged to 34-year-old Mein Hsiao, a graduate student at the University of Louisiana Monroe, who was found stabbed to death in her apartment.
The investigation into Hsiao's death remains open, a Monroe Police Department detective told BuzzFeed News on Tuesday. In November, the department's Chief Quentin Holmes told local media they suspected Tellis in her death, though he had not been charged with murder.
Tellis is being held on $200,000 bond at the Ouachita Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana.
SOURCE: BuzzFeed
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