‘We loved her,’ neighbors, LDS bishop remember 15-year-old homicide victim
May 8, 2018, 11:45 PM | Updated: May 9, 2018, 12:46 am
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A tip about a possible sighting of a person of interest in a homicide investigation led officers with search dogs back to the scene Tuesday night of where a 15-year-old girl was found dead.
Shaun French, 24, has a warrant out for his arrest for three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, according to the Salt Lake Police Department.
Officers with the Salt Lake Police Department searched the area around the victim’s home, located at 1624 W. 500 North, for about an hour for Shaun French, 24, but didn’t find any signs of him.
A day before, detectives say Baleigh Bagshaw had just returned home from school and was speaking on the phone with her mother when she was brutally attacked.
Police search late Tuesday night for Shaun French, a person of interest in the homicide investigation.
While police classify French as a person of interest in the homicide, they announced Tuesday afternoon that an arrest warrant had been issued for him in a separate case.
Related: Neighbors of teen killed in her home are stunned
“The warrant is for three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor,” said Brandon Shearer, a sergeant with the Salt Lake Police Department.
Sgt. Shearer said the charges stem from a relationship
Police say Baleigh Bagshaw, 15, was brutally attacked inside her Salt Lake City home.
French had with Bagshaw. The warrant could also help in the homicide investigation once authorities catch up with French, who has contacts in the Ogden area of Utah, as well as in Wyoming and Ohio.
“If he fled the state and we’re able to get him out of state, that allows us to extradite him back to Utah,” Shearer said.
Related: Coworkers of slain teen say she made work fun
Meantime, neighbors showed up at Bagshaw’s home Tuesday evening to remember her.
Gordy Johnston places flowers in front of Baleigh Bagshaw’s home in Salt Lake City.
“She was a good kid,” said longtime neighbor Gordy Johnston who placed flowers in front of the family’s home. “We loved her.”
The Bagshaw family’s church leader told KSL that Baleigh was a joy to be around and that the other youth enjoyed having her at activities.
“Baleigh will be missed by our entire ward family,” said Scott Arnold, her LDS bishop. “The neighborhood in general is saddened to lose somebody like her.”
Scott Arnold, the LDS bishop for the Bagshaw family, said the entire neighborhood is saddened to lose Baleigh.
Arnold said Baleigh was the youngest of three children and hoped to follow in the footsteps of her older sister and serve in the U.S. Military.
“She was just a fun person and just had a great smile and a great attitude and not a mean bone on her,” Arnold said.
