The 19-year-old transgender student who was fatally stabbed in the laundry room of an off-campus housing complex near the University of Washington on Sunday night has been identified by the medical examiner’s office as Juniper Blessing.
Blessing was a recent graduate of the New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican, who obtained a statement from her family.
“Juniper was simply the most amazing human being we have ever known — highly intelligent, extremely talented, and deeply sensitive to the needs of others,” the family wrote via the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance. “Juniper’s loss not only devastates us but diminishes the world.”
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Per local CBS affiliate KIRO, the King County Medical Examiner’s report states that Blessing was stabbed over 40 times.
Her body was found shortly after 10 p.m. on Sunday night in a laundry room at Nordheim Court, a privately managed apartment complex affiliated with the university. Authorities subsequently launched a multi-day manhunt for an individual caught on surveillance footage. That search came to an end when 31-year-old Christopher Michael Leahy turned himself into Bellevue Police on Wednesday night after images of him were made public. The following morning, the suspect was transferred to King County Jail in downtown Seattle, where records show he is being held on $10 million bail for a homicide investigation. Leahy appeared in court later on Thursday, with a judge finding probable cause for first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, per KATV.
Per KIRO, which reviewed initial court documents in the case, Blessing was spotted bringing clothes to the laundry room shortly before 9 p.m. and returning an hour later. Police said the camera within the laundry room itself was not plugged in. According to KOMO News, arrest records state the suspect was captured in surveillance footage disconnecting that specific camera in advance of the alleged murder. Blessing’s body was reportedly discovered by another Nordheim Court resident who entered the laundry room after holding the door open for a man whom she says thanked her on the way out.
Blessing was a major in the school’s Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science. The Seattle Gay News reports that used she/they pronouns, citing conversations with their friends. On the unofficial subreddit for the University of Washington, one friend memorialized Blessing as someone who “only wished the best for everyone in her life.” According to the post, her hobbies included meteorology, music, singing, and video games like Hollow Knight.
“She was so caring, always wanted to listen, always there if you needed her,” the friend wrote.
Alongside the Seattle-based Gender Justice League nonprofit, the Trans Collective at UW has planned an on-campus event on Saturday for those who wish to grieve Blessing. The groups have asked media not to attend, and for no filming or photography to take place.
This is a developing story that will continue to be updated.
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