Hearing reset for East Bay siblings linked to October 2021 killing of Carmel woman
The Quintanillas, both of Pittsburg, are charged in connection with the slaying of Leilani Beauchamp, 19, of Carmel, who was last seen leaving a Halloween party on Oct. 30 in Sacramento.
A Solano County Superior Court judge vacated a Monday preliminary hearing date and scheduled a January one for a brother and sister charged in connection to the late-October 2021 killing of a 19-year-old Carmel woman in Fairfield.
Court records show that Jessica Yesenia Quintanilla, 22, and Marco Antonio Quintanilla, 28, both of Pittsburg, appeared in Department 11, where Judge William J. Pendergast ordered them to return at 10 a.m. Jan. 10 for the hearing in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
Pendergast also scheduled a prehearing matter, a readiness conference and a motion to amend the criminal complaint at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 5. The elder Quintanilla, a previously convicted felon who is not in custody, also faces a parole revocation hearing at the same time.
The Quintanillas’ latest court date comes after their initial arraignment was previously scheduled on Nov. 4 last year, when the defense counsel at the time requested a rescheduling to bring in a private attorney the family had hired. The judge granted the request.
Jessica Quintanilla is represented by San Francisco-based attorney William Alan Welch. She is being held without bail on first-degree murder charges in the Claybank Detention Facility in Fairfield.
Marco Quintanilla, who is represented by San Francisco attorney Laurie D. Savill, is charged with being an accessory in the case and violating his parole associated with a felony conviction for attempted murder. He was previously being held at the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield on $50,000 bail, but, on Feb. 2, he posted bail on the parole charge and was released.
Court records show that Jessica previously was represented by the Public Defender. Marco was represented by the Alternate Public Defender. They have entered not-guilty pleas.
On Oct. 30 last year, the Fairfield Police Department received a missing person report for Leilani Beauchamp, 19, who was last seen leaving a Halloween party in Sacramento earlier that morning with two active-duty airmen from Travis Air Force Base who were living off-base on Cascade Lane in Fairfield.
Fairfield officers worked with Travis AFB’s Office of Special Investigations and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, as Beauchamp’s remains were later discovered in Salinas.
Lt. Jausiah Jacobsen, the Fairfield Police Department’s public information officer at the time, said warrants were issued to search the Cascade Lane residence on Oct. 31.
Police investigators ended up arresting three in connection with the killing: the Quintanillas and Juan Parra-Peralta, 20 at the time, one of the airmen who lived in the house.
Court records show that Parra-Peralta was not charged in the case and is not in custody. The second airman Beauchamp left with has not been publicly identified and was not arrested.
Solano County Chief Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira told reporters after Nov. 2 proceedings that the killing may have stemmed from a “love triangle situation” as the investigation continued.
At the time, Jacobsen said it had not been confirmed how all the parties knew each other.
Last year, officials at the Travis AFB’s Public Affairs Office would not comment on specifics of Parra-Peralta’s involvement in the case or his status at the base, issuing a brief statement that the investigation was being handled by the Fairfield Police Department.