WHO KILLED JESSICA LANE CHAMBERS?

[Duchess]

How come there is no movement in this case? It's not like it happened in a large city. It's like the case is dead.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know the answer, Duchess.

There were so many rumors, conspiracy theories, and shady characters surrounding the story for a while - then it seemed to fade away from national attention.

I'm hoping the authorities investigating Jessica's death have made some headway in determining what the heck really happened to her; hate to think the case went cold so quickly.

[ScientistsCanvas]

buzzfeed posted about this case a few days ago, so there is renewed interest. Whether it will amount to anything, is anyone’s guess. I think it’s pretty likely that there are at least a few people in town that know exactly what happened.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/who...fnA9nwMNNV

[d505]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../32024837/

[d505]

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015...ain-sight/

[HairOfTheDog]

One Year Later................Still No Answers



Jessica's family held a vigil on Sunday to mark the one year anniversary of her death.

Law enforcement has interviewed hundreds of people and continues to actively investigate the case, but they reportedly still don't know where Jessica was in the hour before she was found burned next to her car on the side of the road.

D.A. Champion says police believe the killer knew Jessica; that setting someone on fire is personal. He says LE will catch the killer, no matter how long it takes.

The reward for information now stands at $54,000.

Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...death.html

[Duchess]

If I remember correctly this happened in a very small community, the kind of place where everyone knows your name, how can it be that one year later and there are still no answers? I wonder if LE are bumpkins or if there are those who do know and aren't speaking up either because fear of reprisal or they are protecting someone. I haven't thought about this case in a long time but now that I am, I am wondering.

I sometimes still wonder about the little boy out in Oregon who has never been found.

[HairOfTheDog]

The FBI has been involved in the Jessica Chambers investigation since early on and have interviewed hundreds of people and reviewed more than 20,000 phone records trying to determine who lit Chambers on fire and killed her.

As a result of that FBI investigation, "Operation Bite Back", 17 gang members were arrested in Mississippi on Tuesday.

They've been charged with everything from illegal gun possession, narcotic sales, child endangerment...

If Jessica's murder was a gang hit, or if any of the gang members have information about her death, hopefully one or more of those arrested will cooperate with LE to get a deal. I suspect that's what authorities are hoping for.

It's good to see that Jessica's case has not gone cold.

Story: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-investig...g-arrests/

[Duchess]

Whoever did it is a heartless piece of shit, no doubt about it.

They have arrested a drifter for her murder.

A man has been charged with murdering Mississippi teenager Jessica Chambers more than a year after she was doused in gasoline and burned to death.

Quinton Tellis, 27, is suspected of setting fire to 19-year-old Chambers' car in Courtland, Mississippi, and leaving her there to die on December 7, 2014.

The pair were allegedly in a relationship, having both attended South Panola High School in Panola County, according to the Clarion Ledger. He is believed to be the last person that saw her before she was burned.

Tellis was indicted by a special grand jury for the case in Louisiana on Tuesday where he was already in custody in connection with the stabbing murder of a Taiwanese exchange student.

Story

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow, it's great to hear that an arrest has been made Duchess.

I'm anxious to learn more from the press conference -- all kinds of questions running through my mind.

1. Was Tellis on LE radar all along, or did some new piece of info/evidence lead to his arrest?
2. Was Jessica last seen with Tellis at a party or was he the guy she was waving to off camera at the gas station (or both)?
3. Does Tellis have gang affiliation?
4. Do police suspect that Tellis lit Jessica and her car on fire to destroy evidence, or did he light her on fire specifically to kill her?

I don't think LE will reveal too many details today, but I hope they fill in some of the general time line and association gaps.


^ Suspect Quentin Tellis.
More pics and info about the suspect: http://heavy.com/news/2016/02/quinton-ve...pi-record/

[HairOfTheDog]

WREG covered the press conference live and the video is posted below the article at this link: http://wreg.com/2016/02/24/capital-murde...-chambers/

Some highlights:

1. Quinton Tellis was one of 150 potential suspects from the start.

2. Tellis is a gang member, but the multi-agency LE team believes there is no gang or drug connection involved in Jessica's murder whatsoever; they believe Tellis acted alone and kept the murder to himself.

3. LE was frustrated early on because they talked to so many people and their street contacts and everyone they interviewed was 100% cooperative (Jessica was a hometown girl), but no one had information about the murder, not even after the $54k reward was offered. LE strongly suspected that this was one individual who acted alone as a result, which is how it turned out if they're right about Tellis.

4. Jessica had a personal relationship with Tellis for a few weeks prior to her death. She was last seen with him (no details given as to who saw them or where). Tellis was several years older, but they'd gone to the same high school and grown up in the same area.

5. DA Champion wanted to dis-spell the rumor that accelerant or lighter fluid had been poured down Jessica's throat. That did not happen. However, she and her car were doused and lit on fire. Champion declined to say what kind of accelerant was used.

6. DA Champion confirmed that Jessica did tell first responders something which helped in the investigation; he declined to reveal what that was.

7. Over 20,000 phone numbers and other sources of data were scoured by the local LE, FBI, ATF, DOJ...in the course of the investigation. Forensic and data evidence helped secure the grand jury indictment, but DA Champion said there is still a lot of work to do on the case.

8. DA Champion confirmed that in the course of the Jessica Chambers' murder investigation, many unrelated crimes and corruption were uncovered -- all of those crimes are being pursued separately and several arrests have been made.

9. Quinton Tellis moved to Louisiana last year. He married a woman there and was very shortly thereafter arrested for using credit cards belonging to a murdered female Taiwanese exchange student. Jessica was killed in Dec 2014; the exchange student was killed in August 2015. Tellis has not been charged with that young woman's murder (yet). Tellis has previous convictions for burglary, evading police, and marijuana. He will not be extradited to Mississippi until Louisiana is finished with him.

10. DA Champion was asked by a reporter if he or other members of the multi-agency task force were bothered by all of the accusations and insults leveled at them on-line or by the conspiracy theories. He laughed it off and said it didn't bother him a bit; he said those commenters didn't know what they were talking about. He did say that the team monitored the on-line discussions just in case anything of value arose.

Jessica's dad, Ben Chambers, thanked Champion, the Sheriff, and the rest of the agencies investigating the case.

[Duchess]

I think I might have been one of the naysayers. I was frustrated with the seemingly lack of activity and I didn't think LE knew what they were doing.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think the question about on-line accusations and conspiracy theories was probably in relation to sites like The Conservative Treehouse.

They pegged Jessica's death as everything from a drug gang revenge murder, part of a plot by blacks to kill whites, a government/DOJ cover-up.... to a murder committed by her father or the gas station owner -- all with LE as either co-conspirators or total dipshits who couldn't see the glaringly obvious.

[Duchess]

I think the question about on-line accusations and conspiracy theories was probably in relation to sites like The Conservative Treehouse.

Oh for sure. I know that none of those people know I'm alive, I just meant me being a naysayer in Mock. Sometimes I'm mouthy and critical of things taking to long. I blame it on those in charge when the reality is I don't know jack shit.

[d505]

so happy they made an arrest. I remember champion saying in the beginning it may take a few years! So I knew it would be slow. And then back in August Jessica's dad, Ben, said to the media that LE was getting closer to an arrest, and they were just gathering evidence. So I am guessing around that time Tellis came back on LE's radar? This is also around the time Tellis allegedly stole the bank cards and allegedly murdered the exchange student. I am also wondering if he got married back in August because he knew he was going to be going to prison soon for his alleged murders.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I was happy and surprised to read about the arrest too, d505. LE did a good job keeping their investigation close to the vest.

Assuming Tellis is the guy, I really hope LE can gather enough evidence to make an airtight case against him.

I trust that they have good reason to suspect it's Tellis, but if they thought they could prove his guilt in the murder of Jessica beyond reasonable doubt at present, I think they'd probably fight to have him extradited from Louisiana now (where he's not been charged with murdering the exchange student yet).

[HairOfTheDog]

UPDATE


Waste of space ^ Quinton Tellis, 27, pleaded guilty in Louisiana to using the debit card of slain graduate student Meing-Chen Hsiao (right bottom) and was sentenced to 10 years.

He was then extradited to Mississippi to stand trial for the murder of Jessica Chambers (right top). Tellis faces the death penalty in Jessica's case. The first pretrial hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 15 and the trial is scheduled for next spring.

Last week, Louisiana prosecutors presented more circumstantial evidence and charged Tellis with the capital murder of Hsiao. He'll face trial there after he stands trial for Jessica's murder next spring.

Louisiana prosecutors now have video of Tellis and Hsiao together at at Wal-Mart shortly before she was killed, along with testimony from his brother-in-law alleging that shallow knife wounds on her face and body were inflicted by Tellis to get her to reveal the pin number for her debit card.

Ref: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...udent.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Trial

CNN is airing a documentary titled "Justice for Jessica" this Saturday night.

On Monday, jury selection in the trial of Jessica's accused killer Quinton Tellis begins. He's pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say that Jessica had been friends with Tellis. With the trial looming in the north Mississippi city of Batesville, District Attorney John Champion of Panola County has declined to discuss details of the case.

However, Champion did tell reporters that investigators filled in the details of the last hour of Jessica's life after Tellis was indicted. Those details, along with what Jessica whispered to firefighters when she was found on-fire in December 2014, will be revealed publicly for the first time at trial.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...an-19.html

[Duchess]

Gosh. Three years.

This is such a sad & awful story. That poor kid.

[HairOfTheDog]

It was a terrible and shocking crime against poor Jessica. It's hard for me to believe it's been three years already too.

To think that she was brutalized and burned alive by someone she considered a friend just adds another element of sadness to the case.

The other girl Tellis is accused of killing, Meing-Chen Hsiao, was allegedly stabbed in the face 30+ times. Assuming he's guilty of one or both murders (both is my bet), Tellis is a fucking monster.