After Jessica Chambers Retrial, Quinton Tellis Headed To Louisiana, Where He Is A Suspect In Another Murder

After a second mistrial was declared Monday in the murder case of Jessica Chambers, Quinton Tellis will head to Louisiana this week where he is a suspect in another slaying.

Tellis has not been charged with first-degree murder in the 2015 death of Ming-Chen Hsiao, who was killed in Louisiana, but he is a suspect in her death, Oxygen legal analyst Beth Karas said. A police official from the Monroe Police Department in Louisiana told Oxygen.com that there is an active warrant out for his arrest for the first-degree murder of Hsiao.

"The warrant hasn't been executed — meaning Tellis hasn't been arrested and charged," Karas told Oxygen.com.

The next step would be for the district attorney to take evidence to the grand jury to get an indictment.

Assistant District Attorney Geary Aycock told The News-Star of Monroe that a decision hasn't been made on trying Quinton Tellis there.

Monday’s mistrial, the result of a deadlocked jury, was the second time a jury couldn’t reach a verdict in the 2014 burning death of Chambers.

District Attorney John Champion has hinted to reporters that there may be a third trial after Louisiana finishes its case with him, according to the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee.

Champion wasn't sure exactly when Tellis would leave Mississippi, but that it would happen this week, according to the Commercial Appeal.

Hsiao was from Taiwan and had been a student at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Torturing her until she provided her personal identification number, someone slashed Hsiao more than 30 times in July 2015, making lacerations on her shoulders, face and ears.

The criminal charges say Hsiao's phone dialed the bank number on the back of her debit card twice the night authorities believe she died, hanging up before the call was answered both times. Tellis' phone also dialed the same number twice within minutes, entering the debit card number and personal ID number.

According to the charge, GPS records indicate Tellis' phone was located within 200 feet of Hsiao's apartment at the time of the calls.

The detective who procured a warrant admits the evidence is "based solely on this circumstantial evidence," and that there is no physical evidence linking Tellis to the crime.

Tellis has already pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of Hsiao's debit card, admitting he took more than $1,000. He also faces one count of marijuana possession with intent to distribute in in Monroe. That charge was originally part of the debit card prosecution but was later separated as part of a plea deal. The drug charge alone could put Tellis in prison for life, since he could be sentenced under Louisiana's habitual offender law if the state concludes that his previous felony convictions in Mississippi count toward that status.

Tellis is currently serving a conviction for burglary in Panola County, Mississippi, and had been convicted of other crimes before. He was released from prison two months before Chambers' death.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Photo: Associated Press]