Lincoln Co. State's Attorney: Death penalty possible punishment in Badi kidnapping, killing

Lincoln County State's Attorney says the death penalty is a potential punishment for the crimes Beaudion Jr. is charged with.

19-year-old Amir Hasan Beaudion Jr. is facing several charges in the death of 20-year-old Pasqalina Badi, including first-degree murder, rape, and kidnapping.

Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman announced the charges Monday morning. Beaudion Jr. was formally arraigned Tuesday.

Beaudion Jr. has been in custody since early January in connection to a separate kidnapping case.

Wollman said the delay in filing the murder charge was due to the complicated nature of the case, which included a separate kidnapping allegation in Minnehaha County. He said investigators were able to take their time because Beaudion Jr. was already in custody. He also said there was a significant amount of digital and forensic information to process.

“Video evidence from various businesses around town and I offer kudos to them as well. Everyone with a surveillance camera on a potential route that may have been taken by this suspect was contacted and worked well in presenting or providing evidence to the Sioux Falls Police Department.”

Wollman said this was an all hands-on deck investigation.

“From the street crimes unit, to uh the fugitive task force, to the property crimes detectives, everybody worked on this case and it was a lot of information to present and to work through prior to presenting it to our Grand jury.”

Badi was first reported missing January 6. Her body was later found in a ditch between Sioux Falls and Harrisburg.

Beaudion Jr. is being held on a $1 million bond.