Murder suspect indicted in brutal MS slaying

Tellis is now being held in the Ouachita Parish Jail in Monroe, La. on charges connected to the August 2015 death of a University of Louisiana Monroe exchange student, the newspaper reported.

Chambers was 19 when she was found with burns covering 98 percent of her body on the night of December 6, 2014.

When emergency responders arrived at the scene, Chambers was walking away from her burning vehicle and able to utter a few words to them about the attack – though authorities have not said what, if anything, the young woman was able to communicate. She later died from her injuries.

“Capital murder in MS if a death occurs during the commission of certain felonies, in this case it was third degree arson”, District Attorney John Champion said during a news conference on Wednesday. Authorities have not released any details about where she was exactly.

More than a year has passed since Jessica Chambers was found burning to death along a MS highway.

Police say she likely arrived in the area where she was killed around 7:30 p.m. Quinton Verdell Tellis grew up in the same Courtland, Mississippi neighborhood as Chambers.

Tellis and Chambers went to the same high school and lived near each other. He recently was arrested in connection with the stabbing death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, 34, of Taiwan.

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

That card belonged to a homicide victim but Tellis has not been charged in that individual’s death as of Tuesday.

Authorities procured “photo evidence” and interviewed Tellis on August 20, at which point, “he admitted to using the Chase Bank debit card on the three listed transactions and stated that he was the individual seen in the ATM photos”, the affidavit said. The report says the drugs were packaged for sale.

Tellis’ Facebook page indicates he married his fiancee on or around the day Hsiao’s body was found.