TACOMA, Wash. — The jury reached a verdict Wednesday in the trial of Michael Eugene Beauchamp, who is accused of killing Ginger Phillips, who went by Ginger Gover in 2018.
Beauchamp was found guilty of first-degree murder and faces life in prison.
"Guilty on everything, guilty on everything, one right after the other," said Ingrid Phillips, Ginger Phillips' mother. "We were squeezing each other's hands, couldn't believe it, that it is actually over."
She just wishes Wayne Phillips, Ginger Phillips' father, could have been here to see it.
"He passed away in December 2021,” she said. "He died before he could get justice. It is heavy on my mind."
Ginger Phillips, 41, was reported missing by her father on July 31, 2018. Wayne Phillips told investigators he last heard from his daughter a few days before when she had a flat tire near Spanaway while on her way to a friend’s house.
Her father said she used to “run with a bad crowd” and thought she could have been a “target” because she had information on a crime that occurred in Thurston County.
According to court documents, Ginger Phillips knew Beauchamp and was an accomplice in an arson and burglary case in Thurston County. Beauchamp was later convicted in the case.
Ginger Phillips’ remains were found by a construction crew on Sept. 13, 2018, in a wooded lot near Puyallup. The medical examiner determined she was shot in the pelvis and died from the injury.
Investigators executed a search warrant at Beauchamp’s residence on Oct. 8, 2018, and found blood splatter throughout Beauchamp’s bedroom, detached garage and in a truck at his residence, according to the documents.
According to witness statements, Beauchamp had said Ginger Phillips “rolled on him” and he had to “make her disappear.”
Investigators believe she was killed shortly after the Thurston County burglary and arson.
Beauchamp is scheduled to be sentenced on August 18.
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