January 7

Queen Anne couple die from severe injuries after tragic New Year’s Day incident in Puerto Rico

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Newly engaged Seattle couple Kate Donahue, 25, and Jesus Sanchez, 28, were killed from injuries sustained in a New Year’s Day attack while visiting family in Puerto Rico, according to the Seattle Times.

Jesus Sanchez and Kate Donahue

According to family and friends, Donahue, a popular nurse at Group Health, and Sanchez, a Boeing engineer, lived together with Sanchez’s roommate Rob McMurray, 25, in a condo in the Queen Anne neighborhood.

Donahue and Sanchez were severely injured in an incident on New Year’s Day at a celebratory family dinner. The two were in Puerto Rico to meet Sanchez’s family when, according to the Seattle Times report, Sanchez’s uncle, Justino Sanchez Diaz, doused the family with propane and torched the gathering. From the Times:

According to friends, the uncle had purportedly planned the gathering to mark the new year, two family members’ birthdays and the couple’s engagement. As the dinner got under way, he set the party ablaze with kerosene and a 20-pound propane tank, police said.

Police report that before the family gathering, Sanchez Diaz had covered the walls with gasoline and set canisters of fuel under nearby furniture, including the dining room table.

As the group sat down to eat, he came out with a tank of propane gas, doused the people with kerosene and set them on fire with a homemade torch.

Sanchez passed away Tuesday, January 4. At that time three other victims—Sanchez’s grandmother, cousin, and younger sister—had also passed. On Tuesday Donahue was airlifted in critical condition from Puerto Rico to the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Burn Center, where she passed away peacefully on Thursday, according to family members. Donahue had sustained burns on more than 80 percent of her body and was in a medically induced coma when her organs began to fail Thursday.

“She did go peacefully,” Donahue’s aunt Patrice Moore told the Times. “She was still unconscious … she was in no pain.”

The couple had planned to get married in Kerry Park this summer, according to KOMO News. “From what I’ve heard, he [Sanchez Diaz] did have some mental issues. I’m not sure what they were, but he’d never been aggressive before,” Moore told KOMO.

“It was something nobody expected,” local police Lt. Francisco Rosado told the Times. “We haven’t even had five murders in the last decade.”

Family members have not speculated on a motive, and police say Sanchez Diaz has kept silent and refused to eat since his arrest.

Read the full Seattle Times story here.

A PayPal account has been set up to gather donations to help cover the costs of medical care, transportation and funeral arrangements for Donahue and Sanchez. It is accessible through the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page. As of 10:45 a.m. Friday $2,800 had already been raised.

A Wells Fargo bank account has also been set up to help with medical and funeral expenses. To make a donation, go to any Wells Fargo branch and ask to contribute to the Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez fund, or account #6174877891.

Donahue and Sanchez were regulars at the popular Lower Queen Anne dueling piano bar Chopstix. In fact the couple met there, and later got engaged there just a few months ago. You can watch the video of Sanchez’s proposal here.

Chopstix, located at 11 Roy Street, will be hosting a fundraiser to help raise money for Donahue’s and Sanchez’s families next week, at at 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 13. The piano players will be donating all of their tips to the Wells Fargo account set up for the families, and Chopstix will be donating a portion of their sales that night to the fund.

Photos courtesy of the “Support for Kate Donahue and Jesus Sanchez” Facebook page.


Tags

Chopstix, death, donations, fundraiser, Jesus Sanchez, Justino Sanchez Diaz, Kate Donahue, KOMO, Lt. Francisco Rosado, mourning, Patrice Moore, Paypal, Puerto Rico, Seattle Times, tragedy, Wells Fargo


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