By Rupert Howell
A Monroe, Louisiana prosecutor  said his preference is to let Panola County try Quinton Tellis for the 2014 murder of Jessica Chambers, prior to charging him in the killing of a foreign exchange student in August, 2015, at the University of Louisiana Monroe, according to a report by by Greg Coy of Channel 13 news.
But District Attorney John Champion is not aware that Mississippi will get the alleged murderer of Jessica Chambers any sooner than he originally stated, saying he was not aware of an agreement.
Noting there is currently no time frame, Champion estimated he would be surprised if Tellis was turned over to Mississippi before the end of the year.
Champion said he understood that Tellis is scheduled to be tried for debit card theft and maybe a drug charge in Louisiana on May 9 but noted that trials are rarely held on the first set date. He also said that Tellis may be tried as a habitual offender in Louisiana and files containing prior offenses had been forwarded to prosecutors there.
Quachita Parish (La.) Assistant District Attorney Neil Johnson told a Memphis news station. “It is a circumstantial evidence case, and Mississippi I understand has DNA and more physical evidence.”
But Champion said he thinks Louisiana prosecutors have an equally good case.
Johnson told a FOX13 reporter, “For a homicide like this, there is no statute of limitation to charge him. Once we charge him, we have a statute of limitations to bring him to trial. So to avoid starting that clock, we are going to give Mississippi the first shot.”
Meanwhile paperwork termed a Governor’s Warrant has been submitted and will be forwarded to Louisiana’s governor seeking extradition. Should Tellis be convicted of a crime and begin serving time there before extradition, new paperwork termed Executive Agreement would have to be submitted to extradite Tellis from the Louisiana prison system according to Champion, which would also relieve prosecutors of being under the clock due to a “right to speedy trial issue.”