In the early hours of Saturday, October 30, 2021, 19-year-old Leilani Beauchamp left a Halloween gathering to visit an on-again, off-again boyfriend in Fairfield, California. This account was detailed in the October 19 episode of Oxygen’s Snapped.

Leilani’s mother, Violet Giovannini, remembered advising her daughter to stay safe. “She texted back, ‘I’ll be safe,’” Giovannini recounted. “That was the last message I received from her.”

By Saturday evening, Leilani had not returned to her friend’s house to collect her car and personal belongings. Concerned, her friend reported her missing to authorities.

Who was Leilani Beauchamp?

Leilani, the eldest of three siblings, was born in Long Beach, California, in 2002. “We used to call her ‘tiny but mighty,’” her mother reminisced. “She was small in stature but had a larger-than-life personality.”

With aspirations of a career in real estate, Leilani had a natural inclination for helping others. Her father, Onyx Pike, noted, “She always stood up for the underdog.”

Police interview Juan Parra-Peralta

Investigators learned that Leilani’s sometime boyfriend was 20-year-old Travis Air Force Base Airman Juan Parra-Peralta. 

While awaiting to speak to Juan, detectives talked to his best friend and fellow airman Damien Ponders. He said he’d gone to the Halloween bash with Juan and that Leilani didn’t leave with them. His story contradicted Leilani’s friend’s account.

Detectives questioned Damien’s veracity. “I can see his palms dripping sweat,” said Fairfield Police Detective Dennis Chapman. “That was the first red flag.”

But when detectives spoke with Juan, his account matched Damien’s. Later, a surprise twist, Damien changed his version of the events. He said that Leilani had come home with Juan and him after the party. 

Damien told investigators that he’d slept on a downstairs couch, while Juan and Leilani went upstairs. He learned that Leilani was dead when Juan called him and asked him to buy bleach and towels to clean up the crime scene. 

Juan confirmed Damien’s revised story but insisted he didn’t shoot and kill Leilani. He blamed his jealous ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Jessica Quintanilla.

Who is Jessica Quintanilla?

Jessica, investigators learned, had two children and worked as a dental assistant and senior caregiver. 

Juan and Jessica had an on-and-off relationship for about a month. On the morning of Oct. 30, Jessica came to Juan’s house and found out that Leilani had spent the night.

Jessica went to her car, said Fairfield Police Officer Christopher Grimm, and returned with a gun. Then she fatally shot Leilani in the head.

Jessica issued a warning to Juan, according to Deputy District Attorney Ilana Shapiro, threatening, “You need to help me, or else I will hurt you, Damien, your family.” 

Juan was afraid to cross her or her brother, Marco Quintanilla, a parolee. Some years earlier he’d been convicted of attempted murder.

Juan told police that they loaded Leilani’s body into a car, drove to the Salinas area and dumped her.

According to Juan, Jessica hatched a plan to return to the dump site to remove Leilani’s teeth with pliers and torch the body to destroy evidence. 

But investigators found Juan before that could happen. He took detectives to where they left Leilani. Her body was autopsied as the bedroom crime scene was processed for evidence.

Jessica Quintanilla questioned

Jessica was arrested, along with Marco, who was charged with violating his parole. Jessica contradicted everything Juan had told detectives. 

After strategically putting the siblings in a room together, investigators overheard them talking about Leilani’s body. 

Marco, who had a parole violation hanging over his head, came clean to authorities. He described how Juan and Jessica had told him about Leilani.

“At this point,” said Chapman, “we have probable cause to believe that Jessica was involved in the murder of Leilani.” 

Three suspects are arrested

Jessica, Marco and Juan were all charged in the case. However, detectives still had to get to the truth of who really pulled the trigger.

Juan insisted that he had no reason to hurt Leilani, and witness statements backed up his assertions. Evidence indicated that Juan’s version of the events was true. 

But as investigators worked the case, according to Snapped, stories of Jessica’s dark violent streak emerged. Detectives got a search warrant for Jessica’s electronic devices. 

Jessica had stated to police she didn’t know that Juan and Leilani had a prior sexual relationship, but her messages clearly showed that she did. 

In addition, GPS data on Jessica’s phone indicated she went to the site where Leilani’s body was found. Despite evidence against her, Jessica pleaded not guilty. 

Without the murder weapon—the gun used in the crime was never recovered—along with direct evidence that Jessica pulled the trigger, prosecutors knew a conviction would be an uphill battle.

The murder trial begins

Three years after Leilani’s murder, Jessica and Marco were tried. She was charged with murder; he was charged as an accessory to a murder.

Damien and Juan were given immunity in exchange for the testimonies in court. While they weren’t charged with crimes related to Leilani’s murder, they didn’t walk away scot-free. 

“They were kicked out of the Air Force,” said Shapiro. “They had been held accountable.” 

Prosecutors presented evidence and witness testimony depicting Jessica as a woman with a history of violence.

“Jealousy, rage, betrayal,” said Grimm. “I think all those factors probably came into effect when the incident happened.”

Shapiro argued that the evidence showed that Juan had no motive to hurt Leilani, but Jessica did.

According to The Reporter Staff Writer Richard Bammer, when Jessica took the stand, she claimed she and Juan struggled for the gun, and that Leilani was killed by accident. A coroner was called to the stand to refute Jessica’s account.

Marco was ultimately found guilty as an accessory after the fact and sentenced to four years. Jessica was found guilty of Leilani’s murder. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Catch up on full episodes of Snapped on the Oxygen app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/oxygen/id700797306