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On Closing Day, Tellis Faces the Bench: Prosecutors Argue the Evidence “Corners” Him, Defense Says Doubt Remains Judge Larry Jefferson will decide the case after hearing prosecutors tie Tellis to the victim’s last days and financial access, while the defense attacked the timeline, DNA limits, and lost recordings.MONROE, La.(KNOE) - Prosecutors urged a judge Thursday to convict Quinton Tellis of murdering Ming-Chen “Mandy” Hsiao, arguing the case is a picture completed piece by piece: a neighbor’s account, a timeline built around Hsiao’s last known activity and financial access, and a defendant whose story, they said, shifted as evidence accumulated.Defense attorney Bob Noel asked Judge Larry Jefferson to slow that narrative down and look for what isn’t there — no DNA linking Tellis to the apartment, no blood found in Tellis’ vehicle, and missing recordings the defense says could have mattered.The defense argued the state wants the court to guess at steps it can’t prove, including how Hsiao’s PIN was obtained and exactly when she died.The arguments came in Courtroom 8 during a bench trial, meaning Jefferson, not a jury, will decide whether Tellis is guilty of stabbing Hsiao to death in her Monroe apartment in 2015.A fight over missing evidence Before closing arguments, the defense raised a spoliation claim tied to jail-call evidence, arguing some calls were recorded but later destroyed and not preserved.Noel argued the loss deprived the defense of potentially important material.Prosecutors responded that the defense could not show bad faith and said they were not aware of a call involving Tellis until earlier this year.The defense said it was not informed until the first day of trial.What both sides agree the court saw — and what they say it means Hsiao was found in her apartment on Aug.8, 2015, after a neighbor noticed flies and an “awful smell” and contacted the property manager, according to trial testimony from Katelyn Hearne.Her landlord, Ronald Tonore, testified he went inside expecting to find her in the bathroom and instead found her in the bedroom.By the time of the autopsy, the condition of Hsiao’s body drove much of the dispute over what physical evidence should — or should not — exist.Frank Peretti testified he found advanced decomposition and a maggot infestation.He testified Hsiao suffered 27 superficial cuts prosecutors argued were consistent with torture, and that the cause of death was three stab wounds to the left and right carotid arteries, causing her to bleed out within minutes.Peretti testified she had multiple defense wounds on her hands and that she had likely been dead longer than a week and possibly longer than 10 days.Michelle Jackson, deputy director of the North Louisiana Criminalistics Laboratory, testified the decomposition was so advanced that hardly any DNA was recovered at the scene — even the victim’s.She testified that samples were compared to 16 people, including Tellis, and only Hsiao’s DNA was found.Jackson told the court barriers such as gloves, condoms and long sleeves could prevent shedding, and that decomposition and heavy blood could mask weaker DNA.Jackson testified an anal swab indicated DNA from another person, but the amount was too minimal to match, and a postmortem rape kit concluded Hsiao was not raped.She also testified a bathroom wall blood swab contained a mixture of DNA from two people and the blood did not belong to Hsiao or the other people tested; results indicated both female and male DNA.The defense seized on the absence of Tellis’ DNA.Prosecutors argued the lack of a match does not prove who was or wasn’t present.The neighbor, the last days and a narrow window Prosecutors leaned heavily on Hearne, who lived above Hsiao, to anchor the final days.Hearne testified she saw Tellis on July 27, 2015, identifying him as one of three Black males at the apartments that day — Tellis, his 8-year-old stepson and a teenage acquaintance.Hearne testified Tellis asked her, “Where that white lady is?” and asked if she had a baby inside.Hearne testified she later heard Tellis’ voice under Hsiao’s carport and heard Hsiao raise her voice as if arguing.Hearne testified she did not see Tellis again after July 27.Walmart surveillance referenced at trial showed Tellis and Hsiao walking into Walmart together on July 28, where she bought antibiotics and Lortabs, and Tellis admitted in a 2015 interrogation to bringing her there and buying the Lortabs from her to resell, according to testimony.Hearne testified she left for Texas Roadhouse the evening of July 29 and returned around dusk, when her headlights shone into Hsiao’s apartment and all the lights were off — something she said was rare.She testified Hsiao’s bike was still at home, which she said was unusual, and that later that night she heard “bed sounds” from Hsiao’s bedroom.On cross-examination, the defense highlighted uncertainties in Hearne’s timing and elicited that Hsiao sometimes got rides from other people and could leave her bike behind.Later in the investigation, a contrast prosecutors returned to: Tellis’ words vs.the paper trail As Noel argued the state built its case on “could have” inferences, Jones framed Tellis’ interviews as something else — a series of claims, followed by “court proof,” followed by new claims.Tellis, Jones argued, presented himself as truthful during an Aug.11 interview, repeatedly insisting he had no reason to lie.Prosecutors contended that posture broke down as investigators obtained independent corroboration.Walmart video placed Tellis with Hsiao the day before prosecutors say she died, and Hearne’s testimony placed him at or around the apartments in the days surrounding her last known activity.Noel urged the judge not to equate inconsistency with murder.He argued Tellis’ guilty plea to unauthorized use of an access card does not prove homicide and said Tellis always maintained he did not kill Hsiao.The defense also pushed back on the state’s theory that the financial evidence marks the moment of death.Noel argued the court is being asked to guess how Hsiao’s PIN was obtained, suggesting Hsiao could have written it down or Tellis could have seen her enter it during ordinary transactions.He said the fact that two phones called the same banking system around the same time does not, by itself, prove Hsiao was already dead.Prosecutors argued the opposite: that the sequence of events shows Tellis exploited access to Hsiao’s account and that her failure to seek help after the state says the access occurred supports their timeline.Blood, a car, and what investigators didn’t find Noel argued that if Hsiao’s fatal wounds caused rapid bleeding, a killer would have been covered in blood — and that investigators would have found that blood in the defendant’s car or on clothing.He told the court officers searched Tellis’ vehicle and used Bluestar and other reagents that he argued would have revealed traces of blood, but none was found.Prosecutors argued the absence of blood in the vehicle does not eliminate Tellis as the killer, especially given what experts said about decomposition, barriers and the realities of trace evidence.A witness the defense says the state can’t build on The defense attacked the credibility of Eric Hill, Shakita Jackson’s cousin and Tellis’ cousin-in-law, calling him a “star witness” with “no credibility.” Hill testified he lied to police in 2015 by blaming Curtis Lemons, then later admitted that was false and said Tellis put him up to it because Hill feared retaliation.The defense argued Hill lied multiple times and only shifted blame to save himself.Prosecutors responded Hill received no deal or benefits for identifying Tellis and said Hill’s lies were driven by fear.What comes next Judge Jefferson will decide on June 18, 2026 whether prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Tellis killed Hsiao.By the end of closings, the case had narrowed to the