Good Samaritan comforts murder victim in final moments
Jun 1, 2012, 5:41 AM | Updated: 6:56 am
The Good Samaritan who jumped in to help a Bellevue mom after Ian Stawicki shot her in a parking lot at 8th and Seneca says she acted so the woman wouldn’t have to die alone.
Jo Ann Stremler remembers seeing Ian Stawicki standing over Gloria Leonidas with the gun pointed at her head, and then she heard the shot.
The 55-year-old church organist ran without hesitation from her car to the dying mother of two.
Stremler tells The Seattle Times she and another Samaritan didn’t think they could save Leonidas, but that wasn’t the point. She didn’t want the woman to die alone in an empty parking lot.
The two started CPR, and Stremler grabbed Leonadis’ hand and told her “whoever you are, we are here and you are not alone.”
Stawicki allegedly shot Leonidas to death while stealing her black Mercedes sports-utility vehicle which he drove to West Seattle, where he later killed himself.
Stawicki was one of six shooting victims in Wednesday’s rampage.
The only survivor of the shootings, Leonard Meuse, has been upgraded from critical to serious condition at Harborview Medical Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
