Bellevue man charged in violent stabbing of UW student
King County prosecutors on Monday charged a 31-year-old Bellevue man with premeditated first-degree murder, accusing him of stabbing a University of Washington student more than 40 times in the laundry room of her off-campus apartment complex.
Christopher Leahy turned himself in to police last week, four days after Juniper Blessing, a 19-year-old transgender woman, was found May 10 by another resident of the Nordheim Court apartments just north of University Village.
Seattle police released still photos of the stabbing suspect recovered from the memory card taken from a surveillance camera in the laundry room on Wednesday and within hours, at least two people - one of Leahy's relatives and a school friend - had contacted police with Leahy's name and phone number, according to the charges.
Leahy remains jailed in lieu of $10 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Blessing, an atmospheric science major in her second year at the University of Washington, graduated in 2024 from the New Mexico School for the Arts. She was part of UW Chorale, an advanced undergraduate ensemble of music and nonmusic majors.
Friends and classmates remembered her as a kind and caring friend with a transcendent voice and dry sense of humor.
In a statement released Monday, Blessing's family thanked Seattle police, victim advocates, prosecutors and members of the King County medical examiner's office for their support in responding to our recent tragedy."
"Today and every day, we remain focused on our Juniper, whose loving spirit has no bounds," the statement says. "Juniper was a beautiful human being with a heart full of love, tolerance, talent, determination and intellectual curiosity that was a light in our world and to the world at large."
The family also thanked the Seattle and Santa Fe communities as well as "LGBTQIA2S+ communities and advocates across the country who are memorializing and keeping vigil for Juniper by saying her name with love, honor, and respect."
"Thank you for standing beside our family as we grieve the loss of our beloved Juniper," the statement concludes. "Every gesture of support is another candle lit and another flower which blooms in Juniper's memory.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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