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Sister And Brother Charged In Halloween Party Homicide Cops Call A 'Love Triangle'
Jessica Quintanilla and her brother Marco Quintanilla both face charges in the death of Leilani Beauchamp.
A party Halloween weekend proved deadly to one California woman, and another woman — as well as her brother and the man with whom police say she was in a relationship — are facing charges in her death.
Leilani Beauchamp, 19, who resides in Carmel-By-The-Sea, was last seen leaving a Halloween party in Sacramento — 190 miles away from her home — in the wee hours of Saturday, Oct. 30 with two men, according to a Fairfield, California police statement. Those men, they say, are both active-duty Air Force members; one lives in Fairfield (about 40 miles southwest of Sacramento on the way back to Carmel) and both work at the Travis Air Force Base outside of Fairfield.
Beauchamp was reported missing on Saturday evening.
The Fairfield police and the Travis Air Force Base’s Office of Special Investigation ultimately determined that Beauchamp was killed at the home of two men — one of whom, 20-year-old Juan Parra-Peralta, was taken into custody as an accessory to murder on Monday. (His roommate, Jesse Borbe, told KCRA that he was not home at the time.) Parra-Peralta was released on $25,000 bail without formal charges on Monday, according to NBC affiliate KCRA in Sacramento, and the Solana County District Attorney's office told Fox affiliate KTXL in Sacramento on Tuesday that he may not be charged in the crime, terming him a potential witness.
Beauchamp's body was ultimately discovered on Halloween in Monterey County; KTXL reports that she was found in Salinas, 130 miles south of Fairfield and 20 miles northeast of her home.
After her body was recovered, police arrested Jessica Quintanilla, 21, for felony murder, and her brother Marco Quintanilla, 27, on accessory to murder charges as well as for a parole violation (he was reportedly convicted of attempted murder in a separate case). Both appeared in Solano County Court on Tuesday, according to KCRA, when Jessica Quintanilla was held without bail and her brother was given $50,000 bail.
"It looks like it could be a love triangle situation, but it’s still being actively investigated," Solano County Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira told the station. He told CBS affiliate KPIX in San Francisco that Jessica Quintanilla and Parra-Peralta had been in a relationship.
Beauchamp's family told the station that she'd also known Parra-Peralta and had been to his house before.
"She didn’t leave a party with people she didn’t know," the victim's grandmother, Monica Beauchamp, told KPIX.
"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," her family said in a Monday statement issued to the media. "We love you Leilani."
