Jeff Beach, who was killed in the Long Beach dunes in 2015 after attending a softball tournament, is pictured helping up an opposing player. Nearly a decade following his death, a man has pleaded guilty to the slaying.

LONG BEACH — A case involving the man accused of killing Jeffrey Beach on July 3, 2015, has been resolved with a felony plea agreement.

Charles J. Watts, 43, entered a plea agreement in Pacific County Superior Court on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

According to court records, Watts pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and five counts of witness tampering.

He faces a standard range with an offender score of 5 of 46-61 months for the second-degree murder charge and 17-22 months on each of the five counts of witness tampering.

Pacific County Prosecutor Michael Rothman is recommending that Watts be sentenced to the highest possible length which is 61 months, approximately five years in prison, with credit for time served.

Case details

Watts was arrested by the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office on May 17, almost 9 years after Beach died.

Beach was located on July 3, 2015, unresponsive by emergency responders near the dunes off 120th Place and rushed to Ocean Beach Hospital. He was then airlifted to a Portland-area hospital, where he died. An autopsy later revealed he had suffered “blunt force trauma to the head,” which was determined to be a result of an assault.

Earlier this year, Rothman and detectives from the sheriff’s office took part in a special inquiry to acquire witness statements from multiple people who were at the beach during the alleged attack, including Watts’s family.

Sentence to be determined

Watts is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Dec. 13.

If the case had gone to trial, Watts could have faced a sentence up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The Observer will have in-depth coverage of the case in next week’s paper.

Less than 24 hours after the case was resolved, Rothman opted to take a “leave of absence” from the prosecutor’s office. This follows another development from the office that Deputy Prosecutor Jonathan Feste has resigned.