A California woman has learned her fate for fatally shooting a woman as she was in the bed of her former romantic partner.
A judge sentenced Jessica Yesenia Quintanilla to 25 years to life for fatally shooting Leilani Marie Beauchamp, 19, in October 2021, while Jessica’s brother, Marco Antonio Quintanilla, got four years for being an accessory after the fact.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge also fined the pair, both from Pittsburg, several thousand dollars each, likely to be paid to the victim’s family.
Jessica Fatally Shot Quintanilla, Then Forced Her Ex to Dump Her Body Down Hillside
The case came to light on Oct. 30, 2021, when Beauchamp was reported missing after leaving a Halloween party in Sacramento with two active-duty Air Force airmen who lived in Fairfield, police said in a Facebook post.
Jessica fatally shot Beauchamp and then threatened Parra-Peralta with her handgun, forcing him to drive to a rural road near Salinas, where he dumped Beauchamp’s blanket-wrapped body down a hillside and into vegetation.
Police uncovered the murder scene at that house and quickly arrested the siblings and one of the airmen who lived there and led police to the location where Beauchamp’s body was dumped in Salinas, more than 130 miles south of where she was killed.
Jessica Said She was Hungover and Upset After Finding Beauchamp Naked in Her Ex’s Bed
At some point, Jessica Quintanilla reportedly told her brother, “We killed someone,” which he later testified he thought was a joke.
“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.
