Mia Zapata
Encyclopedia
Mia Katherine Zapata was the lead singer for the Seattle punk
band The Gits
.
. Zapata learned how to play the guitar and the piano by age nine, and 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
.
In 1984, Zapata enrolled at Antioch College
located in Yellow Springs, Ohio
as a liberal arts
student. In September 1986, she and three friends formed the punk rock band The Gits
. In 1989, the band relocated to Seattle, Washington
. The band released a series of well-received singles on local independent record labels from 1990 to 1991. In 1992, the band released its debut album Frenching the Bully
. 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.
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 she was seen alive. She may have walked a few blocks west, north to a friend's apartment, or may have decided to take the long walk south to her home.
She was beaten, raped and strangled in the Central District
of Seattle. It is believed she encountered her attacker shortly after 2:15 am. Since an employee at the Comet remembered her wearing her headset as she left, it is believed she was listening to music from her walkman and thus was unaware of the attacker approaching.
According to the cable television show Unsolved Mysteries
, a man two blocks from the Comet Tavern heard a scream around 3:00 a.m. A woman discovered her body in the street at around 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of 24th Avenue South and South Washington Street in the Central District. According to the medical examiner
, if she had not been strangled she would have died from the internal injuries suffered from the beating.
Mia Zapata is interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in her hometown of Louisville.
group called Home Alive
, which disbanded in 2010. Home Alive has organized benefit concert
s and CDs with the participation of many of Seattle's music elite, such as Nirvana
(one of lead singer Kurt Cobain
's final public appearances), Pearl Jam
, Soundgarden
, Heart
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
. Joan Jett
also recorded an album with the surviving members of The Gits called Evil Stig ("Gits Live" backwards). The Home Alive group's instructors offered a range of courses, from anger management
and use of pepper spray
to the martial arts
.
In 2005, a documentary
The Gits Movie was produced on her life, The Gits and the Seattle music scene. Its first showing occurred at the Seattle International Film Festival
in May of that year. Another version of the film appeared two years later at the 2007 SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival, and the final cut of the film was released theatrically in over 20 North America
n cities on July 7, 2008, the 15th memorial anniversary of Zapata's death. The following day saw the film released on DVD
along with a Best of the Gits CD (both from Liberation Entertainment).
Following Zapata's death, Joan Jett
and Kathleen Hanna
wrote a song called "Go Home" that was later released on Jett's 1994 album Pure and Simple
. Later a video for "Go Home" was released which depicts a woman being stalked
and attacked but is then able to defend herself against the attacker.
fisherman Jesus Mezquia was linked to the crime in 2003 when a DNA
profile was extracted from a saliva sample left on Zapata's body. It had been kept in cold storage until technology was developed for full DNA extraction. An original entry in 2001 failed to generate a positive result, but Mezquia's DNA entered the national databank CODIS after Mezquia was arrested in Florida for burglary and domestic abuse in 2002.
Mezquia was born in Cuba
and lived in Seattle at the time of the murder, his home address was about three blocks from where Zapata's body was discovered. He had a history of violence toward women, including domestic abuse and assault and battery
. A report of indecent exposure
had been filed against him in Seattle within two weeks of Zapata's murder. However, there was no known prior link between Mezquia and Zapata.
Mezquia never testified in his own defense and still maintains his innocence. A jury convicted Mezquia of Zapata's murder on March 25, 2004, and sentenced him to 36 years in prison. The case was featured on Investigators; Forensic Files
; Unsolved Mysteries
; American Justice
; City Confidential
; I, Detective; and 48 Hours. His sentence was overturned by the Washington Court of Appeals
but, in 2009, Mezquia was again sentenced to 36 years.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Gits
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...
.
Life and career
Zapata was born and raised in Louisville, KentuckyLouisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. Zapata learned how to play the guitar and the piano by age nine, and influenced by punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
as well as jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and R&B singers such as Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Hank Williams and Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
.
In 1984, Zapata enrolled at Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
located in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and is the location of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census...
as a liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
student. In September 1986, she and three friends formed the punk rock band The Gits
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...
. In 1989, the band relocated to Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
. The band released a series of well-received singles on local independent record labels from 1990 to 1991. In 1992, the band released its debut album Frenching the Bully
Frenching the Bully
Frenching The Bully is the debut album by Seattle punk rock band The Gits. It was originally released as a 12-track album on C/Z Records in 1992 but was later reissued in 2003 with bonus tracks and different cover art on the Broken Rekids label....
. Their reputation progressively increased within the grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
scene in Seattle, before the band began work on their second and final album Enter: The Conquering Chicken
Enter: The Conquering Chicken
Enter: The Conquering Chicken was The Gits' second full-length album, recorded in 1993 and released posthumously in 1994 on C/Z Records. Lead singer and songwriter Mia Zapata was raped and strangled to death in July, 1993 during production of this record...
, released in 1993.
Murder
At around 2:00 a.m. on July 7, 1993, Zapata left the Comet Tavern in the Capitol HillCapitol Hill, Seattle, Washington
Capitol Hill is the most densely populated residential district in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the center of the city's gay and counterculture communities, and is one of the city's most prominent nightlife and entertainment districts....
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 she was seen alive. She may have walked a few blocks west, north to a friend's apartment, or may have decided to take the long walk south to her home.
She was beaten, raped and strangled in the Central District
Central District, Seattle, Washington
The Central District is a mostly residential district in Seattle located east of Cherry Hill, west of Madrona and Leschi, south of Capitol Hill, and north of Rainier Valley...
of Seattle. It is believed she encountered her attacker shortly after 2:15 am. Since an employee at the Comet remembered her wearing her headset as she left, it is believed she was listening to music from her walkman and thus was unaware of the attacker approaching.
According to the cable television show Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
, a man two blocks from the Comet Tavern heard a scream around 3:00 a.m. A woman discovered her body in the street at around 3:30 a.m. near the intersection of 24th Avenue South and South Washington Street in the Central District. According to the medical examiner
Medical examiner
A medical examiner is a medically qualified government officer whose duty is to investigate deaths and injuries that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictions to initiate inquests....
, if she had not been strangled she would have died from the internal injuries suffered from the beating.
Mia Zapata is interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in her hometown of Louisville.
Legacy
In the aftermath of her murder, friends created a self-defenseSelf-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
group called Home Alive
Home Alive
Home Alive was a non-profit organization based in Seattle which promotes anti-violence. The organization offered self-defense classes and public education and awareness in order to reduce and prevent violence. The Home Alive group trained its own instructors. They held a range of courses including...
, which disbanded in 2010. Home Alive has organized benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
s and CDs with the participation of many of Seattle's music elite, such as Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
(one of lead singer Kurt Cobain
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
's final public appearances), Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, and the Presidents of the United States of America
The Presidents of the United States of America (band)
The Presidents of the United States of America, commonly referred to as Pot USA or "PUSA" or The Presidents, are a twice Grammy-nominated American alternative rock band. The band formed in Seattle, USA, in 1993. The three-piece group currently comprises vocalist and "basitarist" Chris Ballew,...
. Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
also recorded an album with the surviving members of The Gits called Evil Stig ("Gits Live" backwards). The Home Alive group's instructors offered a range of courses, from anger management
Anger management
The term anger management commonly refers to a system of psychological therapeutic techniques and exercises by which someone with excessive or uncontrollable anger & aggression can control or reduce the triggers, degrees, and effects of an angered emotional state...
and use of pepper spray
Pepper spray
Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...
to the martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
.
In 2005, a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
The Gits Movie was produced on her life, The Gits and the Seattle music scene. Its first showing occurred at the Seattle International Film Festival
Seattle International Film Festival
The Seattle International Film Festival , held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees...
in May of that year. Another version of the film appeared two years later at the 2007 SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival, and the final cut of the film was released theatrically in over 20 North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n cities on July 7, 2008, the 15th memorial anniversary of Zapata's death. The following day saw the film released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
along with a Best of the Gits CD (both from Liberation Entertainment).
Following Zapata's death, Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
and Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna is an American musician, feminist activist, and punk zine writer. In the early- to mid-1990s she was the lead singer and songwriter of Bikini Kill, before fronting Le Tigre in the late 1990s and early 2000s...
wrote a song called "Go Home" that was later released on Jett's 1994 album Pure and Simple
Pure and Simple
"Pure and Simple" is a popular song, released as the debut single by Hear'Say, the original winners of the UK version of Popstars. It was released as a double A-side with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which was a fan favourite at the live shows....
. Later a video for "Go Home" was released which depicts a woman being stalked
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
and attacked but is then able to defend herself against the attacker.
The murderer
FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
fisherman Jesus Mezquia was linked to the crime in 2003 when a DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
profile was extracted from a saliva sample left on Zapata's body. It had been kept in cold storage until technology was developed for full DNA extraction. An original entry in 2001 failed to generate a positive result, but Mezquia's DNA entered the national databank CODIS after Mezquia was arrested in Florida for burglary and domestic abuse in 2002.
Mezquia was born in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and lived in Seattle at the time of the murder, his home address was about three blocks from where Zapata's body was discovered. He had a history of violence toward women, including domestic abuse and assault and battery
Assault and battery
Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault and battery . This legal distinction exists only in jurisdictions that distinguish assault as threatened violence rather than actual violence.Assault and Battery may also refer to:*Assault & Battery , a 1981 album by Rose...
. A report of indecent exposure
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
had been filed against him in Seattle within two weeks of Zapata's murder. However, there was no known prior link between Mezquia and Zapata.
Mezquia never testified in his own defense and still maintains his innocence. A jury convicted Mezquia of Zapata's murder on March 25, 2004, and sentenced him to 36 years in prison. The case was featured on Investigators; Forensic Files
Forensic Files
Forensic Files is an American documentary-style series which reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and even outbreaks of illness. The show is broadcast on truTV, narrated by Peter Thomas, and produced by Medstar Television, in association with truTV...
; Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
; American Justice
American Justice
American Justice is an American criminal justice television program on the A&E Network, hosted by Bill Kurtis. The show features interesting or notable cases, such as the Selena Murder of a Star, Scarsdale Diet doctor murder, the Hillside Stranglers, Matthew Shepard, or the Wells Fargo heist, with...
; City Confidential
City Confidential
City Confidential is an American documentary television show, transmitted on the A&E Network, which singled out a community during each episode and investigated a crime that had occurred there. Rather than being a straighforward procedural, the installments began by focusing on the history and...
; I, Detective; and 48 Hours. His sentence was overturned by the Washington Court of Appeals
Washington Court of Appeals
The Washington Court of Appeals is the intermediate level appellate court for the state of Washington.The court is divided into three divisions. Division I is based in Seattle, Division II is based in Tacoma, and Division III is based in Spokane....
but, in 2009, Mezquia was again sentenced to 36 years.