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Seattle Mourns Two Tragic Murders

On Saturday morning, 25-year-old Quusaa “Q” Margarsa was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound inside the Growler Guys restaurant on Lake City Way. On Sunday night, Seattle Police found a University of Washington student dead inside a laundry room at Nordheim Court off-campus housing. The 19-year-old trans woman, who was stabbed to death, is still unidentified. The loss of two more young people adds to the grief of a city already mourning the recent murders of high school students Tyjon Stewart, 18, and Traveiah Houfmuse, 17. [KING 5, Seattle Times]

• 🚨 One suspect arrested, police still searching for the other: Seattle Police have arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the murder of Margarsa. Police are still searching for a suspect in the UW student’s murder. They say they are looking for a Black man who is about 25 to 30 years old, about 5-foot-7, with a slim build, black hair, and a beard. Residents of Norheim Court say they called the police for a break-in at the apartments in April by a man matching the same description, but the case was logged as a burglary and was not pursued further.
• 🌹 Margarsa remembered as the ‘emotional center’ of his friend groups: On Sunday night, people gathered outside Growler Guys for a vigil honoring Margarsa. He attended Nathan Hale High School and was part of the school’s national championship basketball team in 2016-17. His long-time friend Joe Ghebrehiwot told KING 5, “There are billions of laughs in the world that just won't be had without that kid around.”
• 🏳️‍⚧️ Motive still unclear: The UW student has not been publicly identified, and police say they don’t know the motive behind her killing. This is the seventh known trans person to be violently killed in 2026. Last year, The Stranger’s Vivian McCall covered five cases of trans women being attacked by groups of men in the Seattle area. According to GLAAD, trans people are disproportionately the victims of violence, and anti-trans violence has risen sharply over the last few years, along with anti-trans legislation. The U.S. ranks third in the world for trans people who are violently killed.

💨 ‘Speed Run’ trend hits Seattle church: Three teen boys were arrested by Seattle police for breaking into and running through the Lower Queen Anne Church of Scientology over the weekend. They’re now facing hate crime and burglary charges. The trend is a video game concept — trying to run through a game’s universe as quickly as possible — brought to life. This is at least the third time people have broken into the Queen Anne church since March, when “speed running” took off as a trend on TikTok. [Seattle Times]

☕ Starbucks announces more layoffs: On the same day former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal calling Seattle ‘hostile’ to business, the company announced 61 corporate layoffs. The layoffs centered on jobs in technology and support, which are the expected focuses for the new Nashville location. The affected employees are not represented by a union. [KUOW]

🚲 Map your perfect bike trip: Just in time for Bike Everywhere Day (which is today!), UW student Jared Hwang and high school student John O’Meara teamed up to create Bike Butler. The mapping tool helps people customize a route that works best for their biking needs, from a weekend ride on protected lanes to an errand run between work meetings. [Seattle Times]