Inset: Leilani Marie Beauchamp (KCRA). Background: The location where Beauchamp was killed (KCRA).
A California woman has learned her fate for shooting a woman dead as she was in the bed of the killer’s former romantic partner.
Jessica Quintanilla, aged 24, received a sentence of 25 years to life for the murder of Leilani Marie Beauchamp, aged 19. Her brother, Marco Quintanilla, aged 30, was given a four-year sentence for his involvement as an accessory. Both were convicted in November.
The victim was in the bed at the home Jessica Quintanilla’s ex — of an Air Force airman — when she was shot, according to the Vacaville Reporter.
At some point, Jessica Quintanilla reportedly told her brother, “We killed someone,” which he later testified he thought was a joke.
The incident first came to public attention on October 30, 2021, when Beauchamp was reported missing after leaving a Halloween party in Sacramento with two active-duty Air Force airmen who resided in Fairfield, as stated by the police on a Facebook post.
Authorities discovered the crime scene at the residence and promptly apprehended the siblings and one of the airmen living there. The arrested individual guided law enforcement to the area where Beauchamp’s body had been disposed of in Salinas, which is over 130 miles away from the site of the murder.
“It looks like it could be a love triangle situation, but it is still being actively investigated,” Solano County Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira said at the time, local Fox affiliate KTVU reported.
The now-former airman who led police to the body was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. He said on the stand that Jessica Quintanilla threatened to kill him if he spoke out.
Jessica Quintanilla testified she had been upset at her ex and was hungover, but the shooting was an accident and that her ex had a gun that “went off” after he confronted her.
William Alan Welch, the attorney for Jessica Quintanilla, said the shooting that morning as the victim lay naked in bed with his client’s ex was “the quintessential heat of passion action,” according to The Reporter.
Beauchamp’s family mourned the loss.
“Leilani was truly a blessing to us and her beloved friends,” the family said in a statement to local NBC affiliate KCRA. “Leilani shared a very close relationship with her younger brother and sister who, after she ventured out to college, maintained daily communication with them. We will miss her smile, her laugh, her caring demeanor, her strong will, her passion for life and the love she brought to our family. We love you, Leilani.”
