Community grieves Juniper Blessing, trans student with 'heart of gold' who loved meteorology and Pokémon

This story originally appeared on Them.

Students at the University of Washington are in mourning after the identity of the 19-year-old trans student stabbed and killed on Sunday became public. Her name was Juniper Blessing.

Blessing, a major of the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science, was the “most amazing human being we have ever known,” her family wrote in a statement. According to friends who have posted on social media, she enjoyed playing video games like Hollow Night, studying meteoreology, buying jewelry and perfume, and singing with a beautiful voice that can be heard in videos like this one of her belting “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty at her New Mexico high school.

“Juniper’s loss not only devastates us but diminishes the world,” her family wrote on Thursday. “Perhaps most importantly, Juniper was courageously living their life as who they were until it was cut tragically short. Blessed with many loving friends, family members and mentors, Juniper will be deeply missed.”

When Blessing was fatally stabbed on Sunday night in the laundry room of the off-campus apartment building that houses hundreds of other University of Washington students, people across the country reeled. A trans college student had been killed so close to her campus in Seattle, a city in the progressive Pacific Northwest; a city that has seen such an influx of trans refugees from red states that it has considered declaring a “civil emergency” to ensure proper protections for those calling it their new home. This shocking crime has shaken many of those preconceptions.

A suspect, 31-year-old Christopher Michael Leahy has turned himself into police, where he awaits almost-certain arraignment on homicide charges. But as that legal process plays out, a community has been left in mourning.

On Thursday night, local NBC affiliate KING 5 sent a reporter out to Red Square, the University of Washington’s central plaza, where the outlet captured video of a vast and growing memorial to Blessing that included candles, handwritten notes, trans flags, and full bouquets of flowers left in her memory.

But for trans students on the university’s campus and beyond, Blessing’s death isn’t just a symbolic moment reflecting the epidemic of violence against trans people in an increasingly anti-trans country: it’s deeply personal. It’s a death in the family.

The University of Washington community has expressed their grief publicly in several forums, including on the university’s unofficial subreddit, where people have gathered to pay tribute to Blessing and begin to process their overwhelming grief.

In one particular thread dedicated to Blessing’s memory, people spoke to her character and the void that has been left after her death.

“I cannot express enough how much of a heart of gold she had,” one person wrote. “Everyone she knew loved her so so much. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over the aching void that's in my heart now after this. My heart aches so bad for her family too.” The poster continued, “She had so much life left to live, she was so ambitious no matter what got in her way. Just the most beautiful soul ever. I can’t believe she’s gone.”

The overwhelming sentiment is clear: Blessing was bright, dedicated, and had so much ahead of her. A classmate of Blessing’s reflected on her passion for atmospheric science and the energy she brought to class.

“I am devastated to learn that my fellow Atmospheric Science classmate, Juniper Blessing, was killed this past weekend at UW,” her classmate wrote on Bluesky. “In the one class I had with Juniper, I knew her to be very kind and dedicated. May she rest in peace and never be forgotten.”

Another person on the same University of Washington subreddit thread shared a statement from a friend who wanted their words to be public. The person wrote that it “wasn’t possible” to dislike Juniper, and spoke about her love for Pokémon, including the fact that she took her name from a character in the franchise.

“She loved pretty outfits and big skirts and blue jeans. If you knew her, you couldn’t hate her if you tried. I imagine if that man had talked to her, she would have had a conversation about who knows what and laughed and smiled as she always did,” the statement says. “Maybe he would have left happy with some new insight on life instead of covered in blood. Her dead name is out there, I was unlucky enough to see it. If you do, try to forget it. Her name was Juniper."

The person encouraged others to leave stuffed Pokémon animals at her memorial or donate stuffed Pokémon to shelters.

The university’s trans student group, UW Trans Collective, is hosting a space “for community healing” Saturday on campus, per the organization’s Instagram. The group requested that media not attend and that those present do not take photographs. They wrote, “Our focus is on giving the community a space to heal and grieve this loss.”