Jessica Lane Chambers, 19, was attacked and set on fire in Courtland, Mississippi, on December 6, 2014, and she died from her injuries. No one has been convicted of her killing. Quinton Tellis has been accused of it and was tried twice, but neither jury reached a verdict, so the accusation remains just that. This article separates what officials have said, what was argued at trial, and what the record does not establish.
What the FBI said about the attack
The FBI identified Chambers as 19 years old and said she had been attacked and burned on December 6, 2014. In its public release dated January 16, 2015, the agency described the person or persons responsible as unknown and said multiple state, local and federal law-enforcement agencies were taking part in a collaborative investigation. Those statements describe the investigation as it stood in January 2015. They are not a current status report.
The release included an appeal for tips. Donald Alway, identified by the FBI as Special Agent in Charge, said: “We continue to solicit the public’s assistance in solving this heinous crime.” The FBI’s release is the primary official record of the investigation’s public position at that time.
Who was accused, and what the courts did
Quinton Tellis is the only person publicly named as accused of killing Chambers in the sources reviewed for this article. An accusation is a charge that prosecutors have brought; it is not a finding of guilt. Tellis has not been convicted in this case.
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The first trial
Tellis’s first trial ended with the jury unable to reach a verdict. The sources reviewed do not state the exact date of that trial, and reporting does not establish how the jury divided.
The 2018 retrial
A second trial in 2018 also ended in a mistrial, again without a verdict. Sun Herald reporting describes both outcomes. Because neither trial produced a verdict, there was no conviction and no acquittal in the Chambers case.
The disputed testimony about what Chambers said
Much of the public interest in this case centers on what Chambers may have said while she was burning. At the 2018 retrial, witnesses gave conflicting accounts on two points: whether Chambers said the name “Eric,” and whether her burns left her able to speak intelligibly. Those points were argued in court, and the jury did not resolve them with a verdict.
Readers should treat this testimony as contested evidence, not as an identification. Disputed testimony about a victim’s words does not, by itself, establish who attacked her, and the sources reviewed do not present a settled medical conclusion about her ability to speak.
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The separate Louisiana case
KNOE has reported that a separate prosecution in Louisiana, involving Tellis and Ming Chen Hsiao, ended in a not-guilty verdict in July 2026. That case is different from the Mississippi homicide. Its outcome does not answer who killed Chambers, and it should not be read as clearing or implicating Tellis in her death.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where the case stands and what is not established
The sources reviewed do not establish whether Mississippi prosecutors plan a further trial of Tellis for Chambers’s killing, and they do not show that the case has been closed. Anyone looking for the current status should check the Mississippi prosecuting authority in the county where the case was brought, and the FBI’s public case pages, since the most recent official FBI statement available here is from January 2015.
| Stage | Source and date | What it established |
|---|---|---|
| FBI public appeal | FBI release, January 16, 2015 | Attacker described as unknown; multi-agency investigation; tip request |
| First trial of Quinton Tellis | Sun Herald reporting; trial date not stated in the sources reviewed | Jury could not reach a verdict |
| 2018 retrial of Quinton Tellis | Sun Herald reporting, 2018 | Conflicting testimony on “Eric” and speech; mistrial, no verdict |
| Separate Louisiana case involving Tellis and Ming Chen Hsiao | KNOE report, July 2026 | Not-guilty verdict in a different case; does not determine the Chambers homicide |
Read together, the record shows an unresolved homicide: an official appeal from 2015, an accused man whose trials ended without verdicts, and testimony that was never resolved by a jury.
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