Mia Zapata

Zapata's body was discovered near the intersection of 24th Avenue South and South Washington Street at around 3:30 a.m, located in Seattle's Central District.

She had been beaten, raped, and strangled.

It is believed she encountered her attacker shortly after 2:15 a.m. Her body was not initially identified as she had no identification on her when she was found.

An episode of the cable television show Forensic Files revealed that she was identified after the medical examiner, who was a fan of the Gits and had been to their concerts, recognized her.

According to the medical examiner, if she had not been strangled, she would have died from the internal injuries suffered from the beating.

Mia Katherine Zapata (August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993) was an American musician who was the lead singer for the Seattle punk band The Gits.

In 1984, Zapata enrolled at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio as a liberal arts student.

In September 1986, she and three friends formed the punk rock band The Gits.

The Gits, who included guitarist Andrew "Joe Spleen" Kessler, drummer Steve Moriarty, and bassist Matt Dresdner, met in Ohio in 1986.

A few years later, the band decided to move to Seattle to engage in city's burgeoning music scene.

The band quickly developed a following within the local underground punk scene.

The band as a whole and Zapata in particular became popular with the Seattle feminist community.

In 1989, the band relocated to Seattle, Washington.

Zapata found a job at a local bar and the four band members moved into an abandoned house they called "The Rathouse."

The band released a series of well-received singles on local independent record labels from 1990 to 1991.

As the Gits were making a name for themselves in the local music scene, they often played shows with their friends' band, 7 Year Bitch.

In 1990 the Gits went on a successful international tour without the support of a record label.

In 1992, the band released its debut album Frenching the Bully.

In 1992, their first independent album, Frenching the Bully, was released.

The album had hits such as "Another Shot of Whiskey", "Second Skin", and "Here's to Your Fuck", receiving positive reviews.

The band had planned a large U.S. and European tour as well a series of local shows and was being courted by various labels.

Before the band could finish and release their second album, Enter: The Conquering Chicken, Zapata was murdered.

After her death, the band continued to make music and found success in their second album with singles such as "Seaweed" and "Precious Blood".

After gaining praise in the emerging grunge scene, Zapata was murdered in 1993 while on her way home from a music venue, at age 27.

Their reputation progressively increased within the grunge scene in Seattle, before the band began work on their second and final album Enter: The Conquering Chicken, released in 1993.

Zapata came from an affluent family but often lived without material comforts.

As her father described it: "Mia [lived] in two different worlds. She lived on two different sides of the street—the straight side on one, with parochial schools, an affluent family, and tennis clubs. But when she crossed the street, material things didn't mean anything to her."

Zapata's music often led to a rejection of financial comfort, but regardless of status, Valerie Agnew describes Mia as "commanding respect and interest immediately".

Zapata was well connected to her community.

Peter Sheehy recalls: "Mia [was] the hub of several social circles; a magnetic personality who drew all sorts of people together who otherwise might never have met."

On his way to her funeral, Zapata's father became lost and recalls many people carrying yellow roses: the admission ticket to her service.

Judge Sharon Armstrong, the judge during her killer's trial, highlighted Zapata as an "extraordinarily vibrant" woman, who was "obviously talented"; she was "struck by how closely Zapata had connected to so many people".

Around 2 a.m. on July 7, 1993, Zapata left the Comet Tavern in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle.

She stayed at a studio space in the basement of an apartment building located a block away, and briefly visited a friend who lived on the second floor.

This was the last time Zapata was seen alive.

She may have walked a few blocks west, or north to a friend's apartment, or may have decided to take the long walk south to her home.

The crime went unsolved for a decade before her killer, Jesus Mezquia, was arrested in 2003.

Mezquia was tried, convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Mia Zapata was raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and attended high school at Presentation Academy.

Zapata learned how to play the guitar and the piano by age nine, and was influenced by punk rock as well as jazz, blues, and R&B singers such as Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles, Hank Williams, and Sam Cooke.