SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 9, 2018 (Gephardt Daily) — Shaun French — the only suspect in the murder of 15-year-old Baleigh Bagshaw in Salt Lake City — is now the subject of a warrant for illegal sexual activity with a minor.
The minor in the case is Bagshaw, officials from the Salt Lake City Police Department have said.
French, 24, was taken into custody Wednesday in Otero County, Colorado, more than 700 miles from the Salt Lake City residence where Bagshaw’s body was found Monday afternoon.
According to the warrant filed against French, he currently faces three charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony.
The court papers say that between Feb. 1 and April 10 of 2017, French, had sexual relations with Bagshaw while living with her in the house of her mother.
French was an acquaintance of the older brother of Bagshaw, someone identified in court papers as K.C.
“The statement of K.C., a 21-year-old man, (is) that he and the defendant, Shawn (Shaun) Patrick French, moved into the home of K.C.’s mother around February 2017,” the probable cause statement says.
“While there, K.C. noticed that the defendant was attracted to K.C.’s little sister, B.B., who was only 14 years of age.
“About a month later, the defendant said he and B.B. were having sexual relations. … K.C. said he saw the defendant and B.B. having sexual intercourse.”
At some point, French moved out of the house. On May 2, five days before her brutal murder, a post on Bagshaw’s Facebook account asked followers not to “friend” French under his name or aliases, stating that he was “blackmailing and harassing me.”
Police have said that Bagshaw was on the phone with her mother on Monday, at the time of the attack. Her mother heard the assault, then the phone went dead, officers have said. Bagshaw’s mother called from work, and asked a neighbor to check on the girl. That neighbor saw blood evidence of an attack, and called police to ask for a welfare check at the house, 1628 West 500 North.
SLCPD officers found Bagshaw’s body, and an intensive investigation began. French was identified as a person of interest, and now is the only suspect, police told Gephardt Daily.
Photos of French and his vehicle were sent out, and he was arrested late Wednesday morning by officers from the Otero County Sheriff’s Department, located in La Junta, east of Pueblo, Colorado.
No charges related to Bagshaw’s death have been filed yet against French. Detective Greg Wilking, Salt Lake City Police Department, said there was a lot of work to be done in the investigation.
