By Rupert Howell
District Attorney John Champion said Monday that he is not sure when Quinton Verdell Tellis’ arraignment will be, but predicted it sometime next week following his arrival at the DeSoto County Courthouse last Thursday where Panola County deputies delivered him from a Louisiana jail.
Tellis is charged with the December 6, 2014 death of Jessica Chambers, a murder case that put a nationwide spotlight on Panola County and the ensuing investigation.
Chambers was found near death next to her burning car on Carlisle Road near Courtland and died later that night at the Regional Medical Center in Memphis. Local law enforcement was joined by state and federal agencies in a lengthy investigation that spanned several states and uncovered several other crimes leading to other unrelated arrests in its wake.
Two lawyers retained by Tellis had scheduling conflicts for a Tuesday, July 5 arraignment date, according to Champion, who said a date would be set soon, probably in DeSoto County where presiding judge Gerald Chatham is usually found.
Tellis recently pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a debit card belonging to a murdered Louisiana woman. He has not been charged in her death.
Champion stated with confidence that a trial would not come before spring of next year, noting that not only are court calendars set, “It will take the defense a long time to go through discovery,” telling The Commercial Appeal documents prosecutors accumulated during the 16-month investigation that will be turned over to defense lawyers, will, “fill a table.”
Tellis is charged as an habitual offender due to two previous burglary convictions and a felony fleeing conviction.