Man found guilty in Mia Zapata slaying
After more than two full days of deliberation, the King County Superior Court jury returned this morning with a guilty verdict against Jesus Mezquia.
Mezquia, a Cuban native, was arrested last year after DNA linked him to the decade-old death of the beloved punk rock singer.
Mezquia could face life in prison for the felony murder conviction.
After the verdict was read, Zapata's loved ones hugged each other in the courtroom and in the hallway.
They greeted jury members in the hallway with hugs, handshakes and cries of "Viva Zapata" and "Thank you."
Jurors returned the handshakes and the hugs, telling family members, "We're sorry for your loss."
The long period of deliberation was tense for family members, police and prosecutors who said they feared the delay might mean a hung jury or worse.
"I can tell you that if they hadn't reached a verdict today, I wasn't going to sleep tonight," said Dick Gagnon, a member of the Seattle Police Department's Cold Case unit.
Zapata, the talented 27-year-old lead singer of The Gits, was last seen alive around 2 a.m. on Capitol Hill July 7, 1993.
Her body was found about 75 minutes later less than two miles away on what was then a dead-end street.
She'd been raped and strangled with the cords of her sweatshirt hood.
The case remained unsolved until a year and a half ago when DNA taken from bite wounds on Zapata's body and preserved were submitted to the state crime lab and matched to Mezquia.
The verdict was bittersweet to many of those who attended the two week trial.
"It's not going to bring Mia back," said her brother, Eric Zapata. "But at least somebody is going to pay."
Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com