Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Teen Cheerleader Burned Alive, Will There Ever Be Justice?

Episode Date: December 29, 2024

Officials announce that Quinton Tellis will not face trial for the murder of a ULM graduate. Tellis is accused of the fatal stabbing of Ming Chen Hsiao    Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Larry Jefferson dismissed the after learning  that the State of Mississippi wanted Tellis to serve a five-year prison sentence for other offenses. Tellis is also acused in the brutal death of Jessica Chamber who was strangled,and set on fire Jessica Chambers' mother sat through two grueling trials, hearing gruesome evidence of how her 19-year-old daughter was then taken to a hospital where nothing could be done to save her life. Both trials ended with hung juries despite what seemed to be overwhelming evidence against Quinton Tellis. Joining the discussion are prosecutor Kenya Johnson, criminal defense lawyer Eric Johnson, private investigator Vincent Hill, prosecutor Wendy Patrick, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober, and Clarion-Ledger reporter Therese Apel.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The man charged in the brutal burning death of a gorgeous young girl, Jessica Chambers. She died from having her whole body set on fire. A murder charge against this man in the murder of another young co-ed has been dropped. That's right. A judge dismisses the murder charge against Quentin Tellis, also charged in the burning death of Jessica Chambers, the murder charge dropped regards a 2015 brutal stabbing of a lovely young graduate student.

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. In the last weeks, it was decided by a judge that Quentin Tellis will not face trial for the murder of a ULM grad student. A fourth judicial district court judge, Larry Jefferson, dismissed the indictment against Tellis. Instead, Tellis pleads guilty to three counts of unauthorized card use and possession of marijuana. He was sentenced to 10 years for stealing the female student's debit card on the same night as her murder. Ming-Chen So, a ULM graduate, was murdered in Monroe, Louisiana on a July night. Gee, he stole her credit card and debit cards and used them around the time she was killed the same night. But a judge dismisses the murder charge. We know that Quentin Tellis was also accused in the murder of Jessica Chambers in Mississippi the year before. Chambers was burned alive.

Tellis put to trial twice, but the trials both ended in a hung jury. So with one murder charge out the window, what about the murder of Jessica Chambers? Will he ever see justice in that case? We know that Quentin Tellis' charge in Jessica Chambers' murder has been extradited from Louisiana. What happened in the Jessica Chambers case? When they called me, you know, I thought maybe, you know, she was just burnt just a little bit, you know. I couldn't imagine the scale it was, you know. And I asked Barry, was she okay?

And, you know, he got real silent. And he said, no, no man she's not and that's when my whole world fell you know he uh told me i he wouldn't tell me exactly where it was at he wanted me to stay there at the house and the sheriff and him come to my house in about five minutes they was at the house and uh he told me you know how bad she was burnt and they was flying her to memphis and matter of fact when we were standing out the yard the helicopter come over to pick her up and so i took off to memphis we beat the helicopter to memphis which is only about 50 something miles from my house we beat we beat the helicopter there you

know and i was just steady praying the lord it should be okay you know uh uh there, you know, and I was just steady praying to the Lord it should be okay, you know. And, you know, just begging her. Well, when I got to the hospital, I didn't even park my vehicle. You have to, you know, pay to get in and park. I just parked in the middle of the street, took off running in the hospital or whatever. And, of course, when I got in there, nobody knew nothing about it or anything. You got to get a badge. And finally, I asked, I said, where's the burn center or whatever? Where is the part of the burn center? And, you know, they said, well, it's upstairs, down the hall,

wherever. I just took off running, you know. And as a matter of fact, I went in places I wasn't even supposed to be, you know, trying to find her. And did you find her? They didn't even know nothing about it. And, of course, then they started calling around, and they said, well, wait a minute, the helicopter's landing right now, you know. And we had to wait, wait, wait, you know, wait on the doctor. It seemed like it was eternity, you know.

And I did. That's when the doctor, the doctor come out and said he couldn't do nothing for her, you know. She was too bad. In the face of overwhelming evidence of guilt against a man, Quentin Tellis, who was accused in the horrific burning death of a beautiful young Mississippi cheerleader, a second mistrial declared after that Mississippi jury failed to reach a verdict. We want justice. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You are hearing me speak to Jessica's dad, Ben, on HLN. And joining me right now is a very critical piece of the puzzle. This is Jessica's mother joining us, Lisa Chambers. Ms. Chambers, thank you for being with us. Yes. Ms. Chambers, you have no idea how many thoughts and prayers have been lifted up for you and your family throughout this horrific ordeal. When you learned this jury had mistried, what was your reaction?

Unbelievable. How can you look at evidence and it's like they are, I mean, it was perfect. He's guilty. There's no doubt. You know, Ms. Chambers, I recall all the cases I prosecuted, many, many, more than I can even remember. And in

jury trials, I looked to the victim's family, because if they were convinced, in my mind, they were the people of all the people in the world that want most to have justice, to put the right guy behind bars. And the fact that you and your family firmly believe Quentin Tellis killed your girl, Jessica, convinces me even more, even in addition to all the evidence. Ms. Chambers, where were you when you learned this jury had hung?

We were in the room at the courthouse, in the family room. What happened? They just came and told us that the jury was hung, that we could leave or to beat the traffic and all the media. We could go ahead and go, and we did. Because this time, this go-around was crazy. I just, this go-around, it was kind of crazy at the courthouse. You had people following you. You had stuff like, you know, kind of crazy at the courthouse. You had people following you. You had stuff like, you know, kind of intimidation.

And they wanted us to go ahead and go before everybody got out. You mean people were following you around the courthouse for what? Around town, just hollering out, you know, free quit frequent justice for quit, things like that. Oh, my stars. Ms. Chambers, I did not know that. I am so sorry those people did that. I remember trying cases, and I would leave the courthouse late in the day during a jury trial. It would already be dark.

And there would be, I called it running the gauntlet, walking down the courthouse steps. And there would be all the defendants, family and friends, jeering, making comments. And at the time, you know, I didn't realize how dangerous that was. It just more irritated me than anything else. And at the time, you know, I didn't realize how dangerous that was. It just more irritated me than anything else. But there were many times I'd have to take a sheriff escort to the car or various techniques. I cannot believe people did that. Yes, ma'am. It's intimidating, but I won't be intimidated. I want my daughter to have justice at any cost.

I don't care. Do you think this jury has any idea that Quentin Tellis is awaiting another murder charge in Louisiana? Probably. I'm not sure, but I do know one of them had watched the first two episodes of that Oxygen documentary. How do you know that? We were told. You know, it's a shame that you have to wait for another jurisdiction to put TELUS behind bars for life.

But I'm just stunned right now. To Terese Apel, investigative reporter with the Clarion Ledger. Terese, I had no idea that people were, haters were following Ms. Chambers around the courthouse and around town, yelling out jeers at her as she's sitting in court every day trying to represent her daughter who was murdered, I firmly believe, by Quentin Tellis. You know, one of the things that happened this time that didn't happen last year was that there were, people were using the term protesters, there were people standing outside the courtroom with signs that said, as she said, you know, said, free Quint.

You know, there are different things like that that we didn't see before. And I'm not sure what the shift was, except for that probably just the continued national attention on this case. But, yeah, I saw overall a lot more activity from the community this time that was directed at the Chambers family. I just can't believe they would pick on the victim's family. It's appalling. Ms. Chambers, when you say you will not be intimidated, what do you mean by that? I won't be intimidated. I just won't let anybody stop me from trying to get justice for my daughter.

I won't let them intimidate me. No matter what they say, I don't care. I know he's guilty, and that's just how it is. They're not going to make me back down. I want justice for my daughter. I didn't get to see her right then, you know. It was about two hours before we got to go back then, you know. It was about two hours before we got to go back

there, you know, and the doctor come out and he told me, he said, Mr. Chambers, she don't want to see your daughter out to you. I said, no, she's unrecognizable, you know. You know, she's unrecognizable.

And, uh, you know, she doesn't recognize him. And, you know, he said he'd never seen somebody in birth that bad could live as long as she did. She had a strong heart. I mean, she had no veins or nothing where they could even put IVs in or nothing, you know. Mr. Chambers, did you get to speak to her before she went to heaven? No, no, no, ma'am, I did not. Did you get to see her? No, no. If we got ready to go into the room or whatever, my sister and her mother, Lisa, walked in the rooms. And to see, they was in there maybe about 30 seconds, and she passed away. You were hearing me speaking with Jessica's father, Ben Chambers,

on HLN, describing that horrible day. He gets the call that his daughter had been burned badly, and he races so fast, he actually beats the helicopter to the hospital and never got to say goodbye to her. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Will there finally be justice for Jessica Chambers, a beautiful 19 year old girl burned dead, according to prosecutors, by Quentin Tellis in last week's. He has been extradited from Louisiana back to Mississippi in Louisiana. He was facing another charge of a young girl, but that murder charge was dropped. Will he ever meet up with Lady Justice?

What happened to Jessica? Joining me right now is a woman I've wanted to speak to for so long that has been the focus of prayers, thoughts, for so long now. It is Jessica Chambers' mother, Lisa, who has endured a second trial of the men she believes murdered her daughter, burned her alive, and she vows she will seek justice on Quentin Telles, regardless of what this jury did. With me, Lisa Chambers. Ms. Chambers, again, thank you for being with us. Ms. Chambers, that day, what led up to the moment that you discovered Jessica had been burned so badly?

Nothing really. She had been asleep. She left home around 5, 5.15. I talked to her again about 6.48, and then I got a call from, well, no, excuse me. My son went to leave the house at like 8, I think it was 8.32, and Debbie, Ben's wife, was in the driveway hollering, come on, they set her on fire. And I'm like, set who on fire? And she said, Jessica. And I said, no, I just got off the phone with her.

And she said, yes, come on, the sheriff's at my house. So I rode down to her house, which is just probably 200 feet from mine, and they told us that Jessica had been set on fire. And we got in, I wanted to go to the country. They said no. So we got in the vehicle and went to the meds. Ms. Chambers, did you get to see Jessica before she went to heaven? Yes, ma'am. Did you speak to her? before she went to heaven? Yes, ma'am.

Did you speak to her? Could she speak to you? No, ma'am. I spoke to her, but she couldn't speak to me. What did you tell her? Do you remember? I just told her that Mom and Daddy were there, that Daddy was in the waiting room and that it was okay if she needed to go, that she could go, that Mom and Daddy would be okay. And she went. She was in such a shape that, you know, you had to tell her she could go. I just felt like she held on long enough to know we were there to hear our voice. And

I had went through it with my stepfather. And there was no way she could make it. I mean, I would take her place any day. I know you would. I know you would. Miss Chambers, it just breaks my heart to hear you because I know, I don't know, I don't know the suffering you've been through because, you know, when my fiance was murdered, I thought, oh, you know, I know about pain. But my father, who was really my soulmate in this world, when I lost him, I just was beside myself. But I cannot even imagine losing a child. I just can't imagine losing my John David or Lucy.

Ms. Chambers, do you feel that Jessica has tried to communicate with you since she went to heaven? Yes, ma'am. I think of Jessica as a butterfly. Even in December, when she was buried, I saw a blue butterfly. And I see blue butterflies a lot, and it just feels comforting that she's here. I want to go to Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, joining me, which means he's not only a medical doctor, but he has studied psychiatry as well. Dr. Bober, I know you educated and sophisticated and well-read, but you probably don't believe in messages from beyond. I do. But my question to you is not about that. My question to you is how does the human

mind process not just a loss, but a loss so horrific caused by this man, Quentin Tellis? How do you absorb that? Because I can remember after my fiance was murdered, it, I mean, months and months had passed and I would hold my mother and not let her look away. I'd hold her by the shoulders and go, mother, is Keith dead? It's like, I just couldn't take it in. Months had passed. Nancy, this family has been through more pain and suffering than I can even imagine. You know, very often when you have a loss of this magnitude, you know, it doesn't even really set in for several months. And, you know, initially, you know, there's a lot of support from the community and family. But the hardest time is several months later when everyone sort of goes back to their own life and you're left with that emptiness and that loss.

So, again, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family and I just can't even imagine the suffering they've gone through. You know, to Kenya Johnson joining me, Atlanta veteran prosecutor, it's not only does a family have to deal with the loss in a case like this and all of them, then they can't grieve. They can't heal because then they've got to go through a trial. And the Chambers family has now had to go through two trials, and it's still not over. It's very touching because the family members have to hear this testimony over and over again. Every latest development, every comment, prosecutors are coming back and keeping them up to date. And it's just very alive and real

and repetitive and hurtful and devastating. But it's necessary for the process of seeking justice. What about it to Wendy Patrick, veteran prosecutor out of California? How do you help a family go through something like this when they've got to relive it for trial? Yeah, Nancy, it's very, very difficult. And our prayers are with the Chambers family. This is one of the most violent methods of execution, we'll call it what it is one can imagine, which by the way, is one of the reasons it may have hung twice. There are some jurors, and I know Nancy and Kenya know this, that cannot conceive of another human being being able to do this. And it is that absolute doubt that is almost overwhelming and causes them to not be able to

convict even when the evidence is equally overwhelming. So to be able to explain and talk about that with the victim's family sometimes provides at least some measure of comfort to really feel the bravery that the Chambers family, and my heart goes out to you, Mrs. Chambers, you are so brave in going through this and explaining exactly what happened. And we're also sorry you've had to be re-traumatized, not just once, but now twice with this second retrial. But that's the best that the prosecutors can do is really explain to the family why. Well, it's part of our system of justice, which we all fight jealously to protect and preserve. Every defendant that comes in this court is entitled to a jury that's as conscientious as you are about the jury's rights. And I respect your decisions. Your inability to

reach a verdict does not mean that you've not done an admirable job because you have. And this court appreciates it. So with that, I'm going to send you, I'm going to declare a mistrial in this case, and I'm going to send you back to your jury room, and we'll be sending you home very shortly. That was Panola County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Chatham, and I'm sure he was just being polite, but I don't think they did a good job at all. I really don't. With overwhelming evidence against Quentin Tellis, who had been pestering Jessica Chambers, a young teen cheerleader out of Mississippi for sex,

all day long. And she had been saying no, no, no, with cell phone evidence, placing the two of them together out in a field. And then the cell phones going, both of them going to the spot where the car and Jessica were set on fire. Then video surveillance, I guess, from a neighbor's security camera, spotting Quentin Tellis and his sister's car going into his driveway where he kept a gas can full of gas in the shed coming right out in about two minutes and then heading in the direction of the fire. a relative of Quentin Tellis' who needs to go to her house because her house had caught on fire? Combined with the burn marks on Quentin Tellis' arms and hands? Combined with Quentin Tellis changing his story time after time, caught in lies about where he was that day? I mean, what more do you need to prove this case?

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Is bad guy Quentin Tellis finally having a date with Lady Justice? He has just been extradited back to Mississippi. What happened to Jessica? With me is Lisa Chambers. This is Jessica's mother who is not giving up. Ms. Chambers, when you went to the hospital and you stood by Jessica's bed in the hospital and you told her that you were there, that her daddy was there and that she could go. What was going through your mind? Do you even

remember? Just that it wasn't real, but it was. How could somebody have done this to her? That was my baby. She was in pain. I didn't know what to do. How do I fix it? I couldn't. You just want to do whatever you can to help her feel better. There was nothing I could do. But to tell her that it was okay, she could go.

Ms. Chambers, when you went in to the hospital room, do you think that she could see you? Do you think she knew that you were there? I don't think she could see me, but yes, I do think she knew I was there. Why do you say that? I think she held on until we got to her family was in the room because I was there when she passed, I think she held on until we got to her family was in the room. Because I was there when she passed, and I hadn't been there just very shortly.

Just long enough to tell her that we were there, that it was okay. And then she went right there with me standing beside her. Ms. Chambers, during this trial, what do you believe went wrong with this jury? I believe they harped a lot from the earache when I don't think that's what she said at all. I think it is in her state of mind if she was unconscious at one point and driven to another point and woke up on fire up against a tree that possibly she thought she had a wreck and that maybe when she got out and she was trying to tell them her name and instead of asking what happened, they asked, who did this to you? And I think she was trying to say, a wreck, a wreck. And they got Eric from it.

But that's just my opinion. Take a listen to Sheriff's Detective Barry Thompson. And I'm not going to gloss over the fact. Did you contact Daniel Cole about getting statements from first responders? Yes. And from those statements, was there a name that resonated? Yes. And what was that name? From the statements, a lot of the firemen had heard what they believed to be Eric or Derek. And was Eric or Derek initially the thought? Yes. As an investigator, did you close your investigation to only Eric's or Derek's? No.

But, yes, at first they thought she was saying Eric. But on the witness stand, they clarified she was saying Eric, but on the witness stand, they clarified she was saying Eric. That was interpreted to mean Eric. But listen to this speech pathologist, Dr. Carolyn Higdon. It would because you have to have the breath pressure first. So if the lungs are damaged, they're not going to be elastic enough to take in the amount, the air to allow that to push on through the vocal folds. And in the pharyngeal area you said a minute ago, exactly what is that?

The laryngeal area is what we call our voice box. It's where our vocal folds are, our larynx. And if those are damaged by inhalation of smoke or fire, would that affect the ability to make an articulate sound? Yes, it would. The vocal folds are very thin, and they're very pliable. And if there's anything that attaches to those cords, it's going to keep them from moving the way they should. I use my hands like this. But I tell students all the time, the cords are to look like this. But if there's anything impinging like a growth or something hanging on the cord, they're not going to close and open the way they're supposed to. Translation, there was no way Jessica Chambers was able to speak. As a matter of fact, the night that we discovered about Jessica's

attack, at first people believed, and it was reported that it was a death by lighter fluid. The inside of her mouth and her throat and her air passages leading down to her lungs looked as if someone had squirted lighter fluid down her mouth and set her on fire. They were actually charred from smoke inhalation and breathing in around a fire. There's no way she could have said anything. Many people believe when she said, eh, she was trying to say, tell us. We don't know what she was trying to say. There is a mountain of evidence indicating, proving Quentin Tellis was guilty. Ms. Chambers, Jessica's mother, what do you think was the strongest evidence showing he did this thing to Jessica? The cell phone data and all the video.

I mean, he was with her on the phones. They're together. It's just no possible way that it was anyone else but him. To Vincent Hill, cop turned private investigator. Vincent, I mean, it's unbelievable. It's fantastical to believe that he's pestering her all day long. Their cell phones are together. And then one hour after they're together, she's dead.

And what, somebody else snuck up in there in that 45-minute window and killed her? That's crazy talk. It's crazy. And Ms. Chambers is right. The cell phone data, Nancy suggests without a doubt that this was Quentin. And one of the things I found interesting at 746, Tellis calls his sister and says, hey, he calls his girlfriend and says, I'm walking to my sister's house. And that route where Jessica was found, there's a cut through that would lead to

exactly where his sister lives. So, I mean, the evidence was right there, Nancy. I still can't believe this jury could not come up with a guilty verdict in this case. Ms. Chambers, during the trial, did you make eye contact with the jury? How were they behaving? They were paying attention. I mean, it seemed like they were paying attention, taking notes. This jury was much more attentive than the last, the first jury. You would have thought that, yeah, they would come back definitely guilty. What went through your

mind when they told you the jury hung? Oh, I don't know if I can even say that. What would they hang on? I don't, you know, I was just total shocked. I mean, just, it was like a perfect picture. I don't have it.

I can't, I'm still in shock that they did that. I'm just, it's unbelievable. Why was he even on the street? He should have never been out of jail, you know? The crimes he was committed and the things he'd done while he was in prison, he should have never been out. He only got out of prison in October, and he killed my daughter in December.

But he should have never been on the street. That's my problem. You are hearing Jessica's father, Ben Chambers, just incredulous, in shock that Quentin Tellis, the man I believe murdered his daughter, Jessica, was even walking the streets to start

with. With me right now reacting to the jury's mistrial is Jessica's mother, Lisa, and she is not giving up. To Terese Apel, Clarion Ledger reporter, what exactly is the nature of the evidence against this guy, Quentin Tellis, in the case of Mandy So's murder? Well, probably the biggest piece of evidence, he had used her credit cards and has been convicted of basically credit card fraud. They found a receipt for seven cents where he went to check and see if it worked, I think.

In addition, they have him on video. But I think the biggest thing is that they have a witness that I believe will testify. They were swapping stories of, you know, one time I, I don't know, robbed a gas station or something, things like that. And then Quentin one time allegedly told him that he had tortured a woman to death for her PIN number and then taken her credit cards to use them. And when you look at the evidence in Mandy's case, she was stabbed over 30 times with superficial stabs and then once with a fatal stab. And authorities believe very much that that's what Quentin was talking about. These two murders are separated by only about 225 miles in eight months.

The common link is Quentin Tellis. Mandy So, a graduate student in Louisiana, apparently had some relationship friend-wise, not romantic, with Quentin Tellis. She was there at University of Louisiana at Monroe, and cops say whoever killed her stabbed her about 37 times inside her apartment. Neighbors identify Quentin Tellis around her apartment that day. Not only that, but video footage shows them together at a Walmart the day before. They say that Tellis picked up So's prescription for a painkiller, a common painkiller called Lortab. And we also learn the neighbors say they saw TELUS coming

in and out of her apartment in the days leading up to her death, that the neighbors felt, quote, creeped out by TELUS. Then we find out he calls his family and gets them to try to use Mandy's ATM card at a Chase Bank. Okay. He tried to check the balance in her account. Then two calls go to Chase Bank from Tellus' phone with her PIN, okay, entered into the phone to find out the balance. The next day, he asked his mother-in-law's neighbor to take a, quote, blue chase debit card with a Chinese name on it, so HSO, to an ATM and get $2,000. Wow. I wonder who killed her. So we see the common thread emerging, Ms. Chambers, of a young girl, a young

woman who doesn't go along with his plan. In Mandy So's case, it was, give me your money. Give me all your money. Let me drain your ATM. Do it or I'll kill you. Or with Jessica, he pestered her for sex all day long. She said, no, no, no, no. So he killed her. Same M-O, Ms. Chambers. Exactly. When you realize that he has killed not one but two young girls, how does that affect you, Ms. Chambers? Mandy would be alive.

Jessica would be alive. had he not ever gotten out early in the first place if they hadn't called him with Mandy I wonder if they ever called him at all how many more would there be if somebody some jury doesn't pay attention I have to say

there will be more I think he has no conscience he doesn't pay attention. I have to say there will be more. I think he has no conscience. He doesn't care. And it's just, I can't believe that he's allowed to do this stuff. I just don't understand. I can't either. I cannot either, Ms. Chambers. How has this, what he did to Jessica,

and I pray to God that the Lord numbed her so she did not feel the pain of what he did to her. Could you tell our listeners how this horrific crime on your baby girl has affected your life? I can't do anything. I don't leave my house much anymore. I mean, I live right here. We're all like two miles from each other. You don't want to leave home. It's hard to explain. When I leave, I know she's not over here, but as long as I'm home, I'll think still stay here. So I try to stay home. You don't want to go out in public just because people have to say something.

And you don't know how to answer them. Like, how are you today? How do you think I am? I'm lost. Part of my heart's gone. It's just, it's like part of me is dead. I can't really explain to you. You just know I don't want to function. I can't function.

To be honest, I can't. Ms. Chambers, what is your most vivid memory of Jessica? Just her sitting here all the time, texting on the phone, the cheering, her being a flyer. Just everything about her. I can remember everything, down to the faces she made as a child, to the pictures she would take sticking her tongue out. I can remember everything about her. It's not one memory that I don't have. I don't remember it all. Ms. Chambers, right now,

what is your message to Quentin Tellis? He won't get away with it. I don't care what the jury decides. He won't get away with it. God has the final say. You can hide and you can lie

to all the people you want to. but you can't lie to him. He already knows. Quentin Telles has somehow managed to snag a hung jury not once but twice in the burning death of a teen girl, Jessica Chambers. Will he ever be sentenced for her murder? We wait as justice unfolds, and we pray for justice for Jessica. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.