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Jessica Quintanilla’s act of jealousy anchors Investigation Discovery’s look at California’s underground sideshow scene when Mean Girl Murders returns with Full Throttle Murder on Monday, June 23, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET.
The episode charts the rapid rise and violent fall of 19-year-old car-enthusiast Leilani Beauchamp, ending with the gunshot inside a Fairfield bedroom in the early hours of October 30, 2021
Jessica Quintanilla, then twenty-one, was arrested the next day with her brother and an Air Force airman identified as accessory witnesses, according to a KCRA report dated November 2, 2021.
After a five-week trial, jurors convicted Jessica Quintanilla of first-degree murder, as per the Vacaville Reporter report dated November 20, 2024. A Solano County judge handed down a 25-years-to-life sentence on January 17, 2025.
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Court filings reviewed by Mercury News report dated April 12, 2025, show the 24-year-old mother of two has since been remanded to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, where she awaits permanent placement and future parole review.
How Jessica Quintanilla’s jealousy escalated into the fatal shooting of Leilani Beauchamp
The chain of events began on the night of October 29, 2021, when 19-year-old Leilani Beauchamp left a Sacramento Halloween party with Travis Air Force Base airmen Juan Parra-Peralta and Damien Ponders.
In the early hours of October 30, they reached Parra-Peralta’s Fairfield rental, unaware that Jessica Quintanilla, who had recently ended a turbulent relationship with Parra-Peralta, would arrive before dawn.
Prosecutors later argued that Jessica Quintanilla entered the bedroom, saw Beauchamp in bed with Parra-Peralta, and fired a single close-range shot to Beauchamp’s head. Forensic testimony showed powder soot around the entry wound, indicating the muzzle was about a foot away.
Parra-Peralta told detectives he helped move the body only after Jessica threatened to kill him if he refused. The pair, joined by Jessica’s brother Marco Quintanilla, drove roughly 130 miles south and dumped the blanket-wrapped remains on a Salinas hillside, where Monterey County investigators recovered them on Nov. 1.
Fairfield police, working with Air Force investigators, arrested Jessica Quintanilla that same week on murder charges. Parra-Peralta and Marco were booked as accessories. Marco later testified that Jessica confessed in the car. As per the Daily Mail report dated January 21, 2025, she turned to him and stated,
“We killed someone.”
Trial testimony spotlights motive and method
During the five-week Solano County trial that opened in October 2024, prosecutors presented text threads in which Jessica Quintanilla warned Parra-Peralta not to “hang around” Beauchamp or post about her on social media. The state contended those messages showed simmering jealousy that exploded when Jessica found the couple together.
Defense attorney William Welch countered that the gun discharged in a struggle and characterized the incident as heat-of-passion. As per The Reporter (Vacaville) report dated April 12, 2025, Welch remarked about the shooting, stating,
“the quintessential heat-of-passion action.”
Forensic pathologist Dr. Arnold Josselson testified that the bullet travelled downward, fracturing Beauchamp’s skull, and powder markings suggested close-range fire.
Detectives also detailed how Jessica Quintanilla forced Parra-Peralta to drive the body to Salinas while brandishing a handgun. Parra-Peralta received immunity to describe that journey in court.
Sentencing, family impact, and current status ahead of Mean Girl Murders
On November 20, 2024, jurors unanimously convicted Jessica Quintanilla of first-degree murder and found gun-use enhancements true. She was formally sentenced on January 17, 2025, to 25 years to life in state prison.
Marco received four years for accessory after the fact. During the sentencing hearing, Lourdes Giovannini, Leilani's grandmother, spoke before the court. As per the Reporter news report dated April 12, 2025, she stated,
“Leilani was my first grandchild. I was in the delivery room when she took her first breath of life. The pain from her loss — it’s unspeakable.”
Jessica, a mother of two, remains in California Department of Corrections custody and will be subject to lifetime parole supervision if released. Her legal team has filed an appeal seeking a new trial.
These developments frame Monday’s Mean Girl Murders episode, Full Throttle Murder, which reconstructs how jealousy, firearm access, and an underground car-culture rivalry converged in a single, fatal moment.
Stay tuned for more updates.
