Jeremy Vargas Sagastegui | |
Birth Date: | 1 November 1970 |
Birth Place: | Washington, U.S. |
Death Place: | Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla, Washington, U.S. |
Cause: | Execution by lethal injection |
Conviction: | Aggravated first degree murder (3 counts) |
Sentence: | Death |
Criminal Status: | Executed |
Jeremy Vargas Sagastegui (November 1, 1970 – October 13, 1998) was an American killer convicted of three counts of aggravated first-degree murder for the drowning and beating of Kievan Sarbacher, 3, and the shooting deaths of his mother, Melissa Sarbacher, 21, and a second woman, Lisa Vera-Acevedo, 27.
The killings occurred on November 19, 1995, in a mobile home in rural Finley, Washington, located east of Kennewick, where Sagastegui had been babysitting Sarbacher's two children. The second child, a 1-year-old girl, was unharmed.
Sometime between the evening hours of November 18 and the early morning hours of November 19, at a residence in Finley, Jeremy Sagastegui sexually abused, beat, stabbed, and then drowned Kievan Sarbacher, a three-year-old boy who was in his care. Sagastegui then waited for Kievan's mother, Melissa Sarbacher, to return home. When she did so, he shot her and her friend, Lisa Vera-Acevedo, who had accompanied Sarbacher home.
The convicted triple murderer refused to fight his execution. His mother filed for a stay on his behalf but it was denied as Sagastegui was found competent, and therefore no third party, including his mother, could file on his behalf.
He was executed on October 13, 1998, by lethal injection aged 27.