SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A man was charged Monday in the death of a 20-year-old woman who authorities say was abducted from a Sioux Falls Walmart parking lot, strangled and left along a gravel road.
Amir Hasan Beaudion Jr., 19, was charged with 15 counts, including first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape and robbery, in the Jan. 5 abduction of Pasqalina Badi of Sioux Falls, the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office said.
Badi’s body was found the next day along a gravel road in Lincoln County and a preliminary autopsy ruled she was strangled, according to the Argus Leader.
Beaudion was arrested on Jan. 7 on charges related to a separate attempted New Year’s Day kidnapping from a Hy-Vee parking lot, and had been considered the primary suspect in Badi’s death. During a Monday court appearance in the Hy-Vee case, Beaudion made an emotional outburst in court and said: “I ain’t do (expletive.)”
Beaudion is expected to be arraigned on the new charges Tuesday. Lincoln County State’s Attorney Tom Wollman said. Beaudion was being held on a $1 million bond.
Wollman said evidence in the disappearance and death of Badi includes video and cell phone data. He didn’t elaborate. Wollman wouldn’t comment on whether Beaudion and Badi knew each other.
Beaudion’s attorney in the attempted kidnapping case, Minnehaha County Public Defender Traci Smith, did not comment on the additional charges Monday.
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