SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man pleaded guilty to killing a 15-year-old girl who threatened to tell police he had sex with her.
Shaun Patrick French, 26, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder Wednesday, The Deseret News reports.
French admitted to waiting for 15-year-old Baleigh Bagshaw to return home from school before he killed her with a knife in May 2018.
Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in the plea deal, which also dropped charges of aggravated burglary, sexual exploitation of a minor and witness tampering.
The agreement stipulated French will spend life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutor Richard Pehrson said Baleigh’s family approved of the agreement.
Michael Misner, French’s defense attorney, said his client killed Baleigh to prevent her from testifying against him.
French began having sex with Baleigh when she was 14 years old. Baleigh later attempted to break up with him and her family told French he was no longer welcome in the home, where he had lived for a time. He refused to accept the breakup and the family called police, Misner said.
Authorities arrested French in Colorado following a two-day manhunt.
