Jesus Mezquia, convicted of murdering the Gits’ singer Mia Zapata, died in a Pierce County, Washington, hospital on January 21, 2021, at age 66. His death was reported that May; authorities did not disclose a cause. The case had remained unsolved for more than a decade before his conviction.
Who were Mia Zapata and the Gits?
Zapata was the lead singer of the Gits, a Seattle punk band. She was murdered in Seattle on July 7, 1993. Her surviving bandmates later described her as “an extraordinary human being” and remembered her as a songwriter, musician, visual artist, and performer, in a statement reported by Rolling Stone.
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How was the case resolved?
The killing remained unsolved for more than a decade. Retrospective accounts describe DNA evidence as connecting Mezquia to the crime; he was arrested in January 2003. On March 25, 2004, a King County jury convicted him of first-degree murder. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s contemporaneous coverage reported on the conviction and evidence.
What happened to Mezquia’s sentence?
Accounts describe changes to the sentence after conviction. LegalClarity gives the original sentence as 36 years; Rolling Stone reports that it was overturned in 2005 and reinstated by the state Court of Appeals in 2009. These are distinct stages, not a single unchanged ruling. The figure should not be treated as the final sentence without consulting the appellate record.
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When did Mezquia die, and what was the cause?
Mezquia died in a Pierce County hospital on January 21, 2021, aged 66, while serving his sentence. In its May 2021 report, Rolling Stone said the Washington State Department of Corrections confirmed the death but declined to provide a cause, citing state privacy law. No cause of death was disclosed in that account.
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For contemporaneous reporting on the conviction, see the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. For the later death report and the bandmates’ statement, see Rolling Stone. LegalClarity’s case summary provides a retrospective account of the arrest, trial, sentence, and death.
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