Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that Sendra Beauregard (age 43), with a last known address of 330 Simmonsville Avenue, Johnston, was found guilty today by a Providence County Superior Court jury of the murder of 50-year-old Pamela Donahue. The jury also found Beauregard guilty of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death. The jury returned the verdict after three days of deliberations after a six day trial before Superior Court Justice Susan E. McGuirl.
During the course of the trial, the State proved that on December 2, 2014, Sendra Beauregard shot and killed Pamela Donahue, a woman with whom she was in a domestic relationship.
During the trial, Walter Woodyatt testified that during the evening hours on December 2, 2014, Beauregard, Donahue and he were hanging out at the apartment he shared with Donahue. At one point in the evening, Beauregard gave Woodyatt $40 to purchase cigarettes and soda at a convenience store across from the apartment.
Woodyatt testified that as he exited the store, he witnessed Beauregard leaving the area in her motor vehicle. When he returned to the apartment, Woodyatt found Donahue unresponsive. He called E-911 and reported that he believed Donahue was suffering from an overdose. Emergency personnel noticed a small gunshot wound to Donahue's upper chest. She was transported to Rhode Island Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The investigation led the Providence Police to execute search warrants on Beauregard's residence, motor vehicle, and cell phone. In a search of Beauregard's cell phone records, Providence Police Detective Teddy Michael found numerous hostile and threatening text messages from Beauregard to Donahue in the days leading up to the murder.
Providence Police Bureau of Criminal Identification located a spent shell casing on the floor of Beauregard's motor vehicle and a .38 Derringer pistol was recovered from a wooded area in Scituate.
During the trial, Neil Clapperton of the Rhode Island Crime Lab at the University of Rhode Island testified that the spent shell casing was a match to the firearm police seized. He further testified that the bullet removed from the victim also matched the firearm.
Beauregard has been held without bail since her arrest. She was remanded back to the ACI after the verdict. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Providence Police Detectives William Corrigan and Fabio Zuema led the investigation. Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit Daniel C. Guglielmo and Special Assistant Attorney General Meghan McDonough prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of Attorney General.