The Case of Mia Zapata: The Gits, Grunge and a Mystery That Lasted a Decade
- Brenda Román
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Can you imagine being at the peak of your career as a rock artist in the grunge world and being brutally murdered right after finishing your tour? Mia Zapata was that girl.
Born in August 25th 1965, she was compared to Janis Joplin, had a huge impact in the grunge world, and her case is suspected to be a part of the known “grunge curse”. Mia was the vocalist of The Gits, formed in Ohio 1986 inspired by jazz and blues.
Three years after starting, the band moved to Seattle next to a hospital, which was the source of many lyrics Mia made. They already belonged to the grunge wave. They toured in Europe and won a reputation in the local scene.
In July 1993, the band found themselves recording an album and ending a tour on the West Coast, they were discussing the opportunity to work with Atlantic Records. And a new tour in Europe. Everything seemed to be placed and perfect.
Steve Moriarty, the drummist, wrote in his novel, Mia Zapata and the Gits: A True Story of Art, Rock and Revolution (Ferel House, 2024) that Mia had a feeling that something was not right at the moment, and she did not want to go back to Seattle.
She left the bar Comet Taber in Capitol Hill at midnight, where they were having a great time with some music friends and colleagues. She left at midnight, saying goodbye to all of her friends without knowing that would be the last time they'd see her. Mia met with her friend Tracy T.V. Kenley and left his place at 2:00 am, he invited her to stay but she denied and left anyway.
At 3:20 am a street worker called Charity Vials, found Mia's dead body around 5 km away from the bar. In a kind of cross position, it was presumed that the laces of her hoodie which belonged to the merch of the band was used to strangle her. On August 6th the band made a benefit concert to cover the investigation and find what really happened to her. At this concert Nirvana played too, but the case seemed to be stuck.
All that was found from the homicide at that moment was a small test of saliva found on a bite mark on Mia’s chest, but was completely useless. DNA tests were just starting to work on so it was impossible to find the suspect.
In 2003, DNA evidence from saliva recovered at the crime scene was matched to Jesus Mezquia, a 41-year-old Cuban man who was living in Florida, but had previously spent time in Seattle around the time of the murder in 1993. The breakthrough led investigators to reopen the case and ultimately arrest him. Mezquia denied ever knowing Mia Zapata, but forensic evidence connected him to the crime. He was later convicted and sentenced to 36 years in prison, closing a case that had remained unsolved for a decade.
After all that happened with Mia, Home Alive was created. An organization to teach women how to defend themselves. There was also a CD that compiled grunge songs in order to represent and create consciousness about this topic, and in order to help women all around the world who are constantly exposed to abuse and many other awful things.
Sources:
Casefile: True Crime Podcast. (2018, March 10). Case 77: Mia Zapata.
Moriarty, S. (2024). Mia Zapata and the Gits: A true story of art, rock and revolution. New Books Network.
YouTube. (s.f.). Mia Zapata https://youtu.be/crnQQhNt-zI