23-year-old mom identified as victim of deadly Pasco apartment shooting
A 23-year-old mother has been identified as the victim of a homicide investigation in Pasco.
Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary identified Lupita Ponce-Penaloza as the woman found dead early Wednesday inside a converted Marie Street garage. She died after being shot several times. An autopsy was planned for Thursday afternoon.
Online records show she has lived in Kennewick and Pasco and that she had a son.
“We not only lost a sister, but she was a mother and a friend,” her sister Isabella Ponce wrote on a GoFundMe post to raise money for her funeral costs. “We need justice and we need to know what happened. We are at a loss for words, nothing can explain the pain we all have to find this out.”
Isabella Ponce said her mother and father are distraught and the rest of the family is supporting them.
“Lupita was the best sister,” she said. “Although we all had our issues with each other, she always had her way to make us laugh and reunite with each other. WE NEED AND WANT JUSTICE FOR LUPITA.”
Police were called about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday to a home on the 1800 block after someone reported a woman had been shot multiple times, dispatch reports said. She died at the scene.
The home is at the corner of 20th Avenue and West Marie Street, across the street from Safeway, east of Highway 395 and a few blocks away from St. Patrick’s Church.
Pasco Lt. Tom Groom confirmed Wednesday that detectives are investigating the shooting as a homicide. As of Thursday morning, no one had been booked into the Franklin County jail in connection with her death.
No other information about the shooting has been released.
Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to contact Detective Julie Lee at leej@pasco-wa.gov.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 11:25 AM.