A man has surrendered to authorities in connection with the fatal stabbing of a University of Washington student inside a campus laundry room.
Christopher Leahy was taken into custody on May 13, charged with the murder of 19-year-old Juniper Blessing, as detailed in a probable cause affidavit reported by Oxygen.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office confirmed to Oxygen that a decision regarding formal charges will be made on May 18.
Blessing was discovered in the laundry room of Nordheim Court, an undergraduate housing complex, on May 10. She had sustained over 40 stab wounds to various parts of her body, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also noted that blood was found smeared on the exterior of the laundry room door, and a camera’s power cord inside had been disconnected.
Upon reviewing footage from the camera’s SD card, investigators found images of a man looking directly at the camera and seemingly concentrating on the power cord.
After police released surveillance images of a man wearing a blue zippered top and eyeglasses, Leahy’s brother and a former friend both identified him to authorities, according to the probable cause statement.
University President Robert Jones called the murder “horrific.”
“I hope the arrest brings some sense of relief to our community,” Jones continued. “But this arrest does not lessen the profound shock and grief that the victim’s loved ones and our campus are still experiencing or bring back a beloved, promising and talented member of our university.”
Meanwhile, Blessing’s family said they are “shattered” by their death.
“Juniper was simply the most amazing human being we have ever known – highly intelligent, extremely talented, and deeply sensitive to the needs of others,” they shared in a statement published by the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance. “Juniper’s loss not only devastates us but diminishes the world.”
Leahy is being held at the King County Jail on a $10 million bail.
In a May 14 court hearing, Leahy’s defense attorney Todd Maybrown stated that Leahy turned himself in to police and that there was insufficient evidence for murder in the first degree, according to King County Prosecuting Attorney spokesperson Casey McNerthney.
Maybrown asked the court for a “substantial but reasonable” bail lower than $10 million, said McNerthney, however his request was denied.
While the judge acknowledged that Leahy had turned himself in, he said, according to McNerthney, that “the horrific nature and brutal execution of this attack leaves the court making a finding that he’s substantially likely to commit a violent offense in the future.”
