Trial date set in Jessica Chambers burning death case

The man accused in the December 2014 burning death of Courtland teenager Jessica Chambers will stand trial June 19.

Quinton Tellis, 28, is charged with capital murder, accused of setting Chambers, 19, on fire on Herron Road in Courtland. She was found by first responders with burns over 98 percent of her body, officials said. She lived long enough to be airlifted to a hospital in Memphis, where she died early the next morning.

Tellis' attorney, Alton Peterson, said he's still waiting on parts of the discovery from the district attorney's office.

"We're waiting for some reports from the main investigators at this point, and we've been informed that they're forthcoming," Peterson said. "Before I comment on the case, I want to know what the investigation consisted of."

Panola County District Attorney John Champion said he's confident in his case. While he has been the main spokesman for the investigation in the past, he and Chambers' family have stopped talking extensively with the media, citing the upcoming trial.

Tellis, originally of Courtland, was indicted on capital murder charges by a special grand jury in Panola County in February as he sat in the Ouachita Parish Jail in Monroe, Louisiana, where he was being held on charges connected to the stabbing death of Meing-Chen Hsiao, 34, of Taiwan.

Officials returned Tellis to Mississippi in June. He was charged with murder in Hsiao's death in July.

Chambers was with Tellis the night she died, by his own admission, officials said. The two allegedly had a relationship in the weeks leading up to her death.

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.